The Carlington Community Association will try once again to host an annual general meeting, this time on Tuesday, October 24, 7:30 pm at the Alexander Community Centre, 960 Silver St.
The regularly scheduled annual meeting in May drew only 18 residents, not a quorum under the CCA's constitution. The rules call for at least 20 per cent of members to be present and the Association had well over 100 households on its roster.
“We'll try again, hopefully with better-timed advertising in the local papers,” said outgoing President Mark Lavinskas. After an exhausting battle with the Ontario Municipal Board over the issue of traffic from the Ashcroft development, Lavinskas is anxious to hand over the Presidency to someone with more time and energy. “I worked 65 hours at my day job last week. I just don't have the time any more.”
A number of the current directors are willing to stand for office again, and they encourage others to volunteer either before or during the meeting. “You meet the nicest people,” says Vice-President Bruce Bradshaw. “I have learned so much that I never knew was going on,” says director Pat Krawczyk. “It's the best way to get informed.”
Continuing members of the executive say they want to broaden the Association's focus in the coming year. There will be lots of changes, challenges and perhaps some opportunities for Carlington in the reorganization of City services that follow amalgamation in January 2001. Councillor Wendy Stewart, so far unopposed in her bid for re-election in January, has also expressed her eagerness to work with a renewed Association.
If you live west of Kirkwood and near Laperrière, you might find this a particularly good year to join the association. The reconstruction of the former Revlon building at Carling and Coldrey to accommodate Nortel workers is just the beginning of what could develop in the area. Applications are also on hold at the City of Ottawa for larger office buildings on Churchill Avenue South and Bellevue Avenue, pending studies of local sewer and transportation capacity. A development study a few years ago rezoned much of the Laperrière to Woodward area to allow more and taller office and light industrial buildings; an office building is also in the works for the corner of Carling and Kirkwood.
Residents near the Experimental Farm should take note that this year there will be a special push by a group interested in turning the area east of Prince of Wales and part of the Arboretum into a botanical garden. While a garden seems a hard concept not to love, joggers and dog-walkers may not relish encountering fences and admission fees. After vandals destroyed hundreds of thousands of dollars in crops near Fisher Avenue because they believed (mistakenly) that the plants were genetically altered, the future of the Farm as a working research station in the middle of a city is once again in question.
Time to get involved? Show up at your annual general meeting on Tue. Oct. 24, pay your $5 household membership and speak your mind. Even if you can't run for office, you can make a difference by showing you care about a strong association.