Draft Budget 2010 tabled at City Council

The City of Ottawa’s 2010 draft budget was tabled at City Council and will be debated by City Council starting on January 25, 2010. For more information and to have your say on spending priorities, attend one of the upcoming Councillor ward consultations <http://www.ottawa.ca/city_hall/budget/budget_2010/consultations_en.html>, scheduled from December 10 to January 24. For more on Budget 2010, visit ottawa.ca/budget2010

<http://www.ottawa.ca/city_hall/budget/budget_2010/index_en.html>.

City hires new Fire Chief

City Council approved the hiring of a new Chief for the Ottawa Fire Service. John deHooge will join Ottawa Fire Services as Chief effective January 11, 2010.

Chief deHooge comes to the City of Ottawa from the City of Waterloo where he was Fire Chief and General Manager of Protective Services. As part of Waterloo’s Corporate Management Team Chief deHooge was responsible for Fire and Rescue Operations, Community Relations and By-Law Enforcement. Previous to this position, Chief deHooge was Deputy Fire Chief for the Town of Oakville.

Chief deHooge is known as a relationship builder and strategic thinker who will contribute to the City’s overall goals in a meaningful and productive manner. His past and current involvement in various professional associations will also greatly contribute to the Ottawa Fire Services future strategic direction. He is currently a member of the Ontario, Canadian and International Association of Fire Chiefs, has served as a member of the International Code Council and various Ontario Fire Marshal’s committees. He is currently an Executive Board member of the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs and sits on the Board of Directors of the International Association of Fire Chiefs as the Canadian Division Director.

The Fire Chief is an essential leader who ensures the safety of residents and visitors to the city and is a critical member of the Emergency and Protective Services Management Team. The Ottawa Fire Service is the second largest operation in Canada covering a vast geographical area and requires a highly skilled Chief with extensive knowledge of state of the art technologies, strategic planning, labour relations, training, and fleet management. The City of Ottawa is pleased that our nation-wide search resulted in finding a highly qualified candidate for this demanding and complex position.

The former Ottawa Fire Services Chief retired in May 2009 and since that time, Deputy Chief Jim Ullett has assumed the acting Chief’s role and provided the leadership, continuity and direction required as the search for a new chief was undertaken.

City gives fee relief to affordable housing project

Council approved a $180,000 grant for building permit, planning and school board fees for a new affordable housing development. The province will provide $6.3 million in funding under the Canada-Ontario Affordable Housing Program extension for the Cornerstone Supportive Housing Residence for Women - a three-storey apartment building with 42 units located at 314 Booth Street. The City also contributed $2.1 million towards the cost of purchasing the property through the Homelessness Partnerships Strategy. New affordable housing is a critical component of the City Housing Strategy, which aims to build healthy, sustainable and inclusive communities, promote and preserve affordable housing and meet the needs for supports to housing.

Council recognizes cultural heritage significance of Richardson Farmhouse

City Council has approved the designation of the Richardson Farmhouse under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act, which provides municipalities with the authority to protect properties of cultural heritage value.

The farmhouse, which is located at 1665 Richardson Side Road, was built about 1871 by Thomas A. Richardson and was owned and inhabited by his descendants until the property was sold in 2007.

The cultural heritage value of the Richardson Farmhouse is related to its association with the Richardson family. The Richardsons were one of the earliest pioneer families to settle in March Township in the early 19th century, and family members had significant involvement in municipal politics and local education.

The farmhouse also has cultural heritage value as a good example of the central gable Gothic Revival-style farmhouses built throughout Ontario during the late 19th century. It is a reminder of the agricultural history of March Township.

City Council moves to revamp parking operations

Parking meters across the city will be replaced with new Pay and Display technology that will increase capacity and make on-street parking more convenient by providing receipts and permitting the use of credit card payments.

The new system, approved today by City Council, is expected to increase on-street parking revenues by $1.7 million per year and will provide a minimum net benefit to the City of almost $5 million over the 10-year term of the contract with Precise ParkLink Inc., an industry leader in providing parking solutions.

The technology will improve financial reporting of revenues and will decrease down time through the use of real time maintenance reporting. The 600 solar-powered Pay and Display machines will replace approximately 4,000 meters and will benefit the environment since approximately 40,000 batteries are currently used each year for the existing meters. The company’s Pay-on-Foot machines will update existing technology in some City parking facilities.

City Council approved plans to execute the Parking Operations System Agreement with Precise ParkLink Inc. in accordance with their final offer and the Request for Submissions document. Council also authorized a separate procurement for the implementation of a Pay-by-Cell component.

Six Pay and Display machines will be installed over the winter (replacing existing Pay and Display machines) to evaluate their performance during cold weather. An additional 100 machines will be installed during a test phase expected to begin in April 2010. The remainder of the machines are expected to be installed by the end of the summer in 2010.

City releases its latest Performance Report

City Council received the Quarterly Performance Report to Council for the second quarter of 2009 (April to June). The report is part of the City’s commitment to accountability and transparency. It provides performance information for branches that deliver services to the public and that are of high interest to Councillors.

A few highlights from the first quarter of 2009 include:
Transit Services: Ridership returned to near normal, pre-strike levels by the end of the second quarter despite scheduling issues caused by staged reintroduction of mechanic and driver shifts and heavy maintenance workloads. On-time service improved slightly from the previous quarter and steady improvement is anticipated as staff adapt to new performance standards.

Solid Waste Operations: Overall, the total tonnage of waste collected decreased 4 per cent in the second quarter of 2009 from the same period in 2008. The percentage of waste collected that was recycled remained approximately constant at 35 per cent.

Building Code Services: The five wards accounting for the greatest building permit activity (36 per cent) are Cumberland, Barrhaven, Gloucester-South Nepean, Kanata North and Kitchissippi. Total building permit applications submitted increased 3 per cent in the second quarter of 2009 from the same period in 2008, while the number of applications processed within legislated timeframes increased by 14.3 per cent due largely to the implementation of the eFootprint applications portal process and the hard work of staff.

Ottawa Police Service: Total calls for service have decreased yearly since a peak in 2007 and, for the second quarter of 2009, were essentially constant from the same period in 2008. The goal for response times to Priority 1 (Emergency) calls is within 15 minutes, 90 per cent of the time. In Q2 2009 this standard was achieved 86 per cent of the time, a slight decrease from the 87.1 per cent for the same period of 2008. Over the same period, however, Priority 1 call volume increased 4.1 per cent.

Fire Services: The number of incidents responded to by Fire Services continues to follow a gradually increasing trend. Responses in the second quarter of 2009 increased 2 per cent from the same period in 2008 due largely to a 15 per cent increase in responses to motor vehicle accidents.

Social Housing and Shelter Management: In Q2 2009 the average bed occupancy rate in emergency shelters was 109.7 per cent or a 7.65 per cent increase from the same period in 2008. Special overflow facilities are utilized when occupancy exceeds 100 per cent. In Q2, 4.4 per cent of households on the waiting list for social housing were placed, reflecting a slightly decreasing trend due to increased demand with no new capacity.

By-Law and Regulatory Services: There was a 7.8 per cent increase in call volume in the second quarter of 2009 compared to the same period in 2008 due mainly to the 17 per cent increase in parking control calls. This is due largely to the City Parking Enforcement Unit taking over the contract previously held by an external agency.

Ottawa Public Health: Visits to sexual health centres have increased at satellite centres due to increased visibility in schools and activities that specifically target women. Calls to the Public Health Information line have increased 21 per cent from Q2 2008 due mainly to calls related to H1N1. Inspections of food premises have decreased 12 per cent from Q2 2008 but this is a temporary impact of the implementation process in 2009 of a new business automation project.

Ottawa Paramedic Service: While call volumes have increased steadily at 5 per cent year over year, Q2 2009 Code 4 (life or limb threatening emergency, response time critical) call response times have improved compared to Q1 2009 and Q2 2008. This does not reflect additional paramedics approved for the 2009 budget that have yet to come on-line.

Communications and Customer Service: The 3-1-1 Call Centre answered 83 per cent of calls within 120 seconds in the second quarter of 2009. This is 3 per cent above the target and a 4 per cent improvement from the same period in 2008 despite a slight increase in call volumes (0.3 per cent). Transaction volumes at Client Service Centres have increased 1.2 per cent since 2008 and E-services adoption has increased 1.0 per cent.

Road and Traffic Operations and Maintenance: Cost per kilometre to maintain roadways has decreased 22 per cent in Q2 2009 when compared to the same period in 2008. Cost per kilometre to maintain sidewalks and pathways decreased 36 per cent over the same period. This is due mainly to substantially more favourable weather conditions, which also permitted spring clean-up operations to begin in Q1 instead of Q2 as usual.

The full Q2 2009 Quarterly Performance Report to Council is available at ottawa.ca <http://www.ottawa.ca/city_hall/ottawa_performance/quarterly_performance/2009/q2/index_en.html>.

Council approves change in name of Ward 6

Council approved that the name of Ward 6 be changed from “Stittsville-Kanata West” to “Stittsville” and it be used, along with the ward numbers, for ballot purposes for the 2010 municipal election.

Council approves disposal strategy for the former Bayview Public School

Council approved a report to keep a quarter of the property as a public sports field and field house and to sell the remaining three hectares to developers. To ensure the redevelopment of this property is compatible with the surrounding neighbourhood, Council directed that a highrise building cannot be built on the site. 

Council receives a progress report on the disposal strategy of the former Grant Alternative
School

Council received Progress Report Two from the Centre multi-services francophone de l’Ouest d’Ottawa (CMFO) concerning a Business Plan for a multi-use community centre, long term care facility and seniors housing cooperative on the former Grant Alternative School site and agreed to provide the CMFO until January 31, 2010 to finalize the Business Plan for the property.

Council approves amendment to Shenkman Arts Centre partnership agreement

Council approved a correction of $865,099 to the project budget for the Shenkman Arts Centre to be contributed by both parties on a cost sharing arrangement of 75 per cent by the City of Ottawa from the Enhanced Infrastructure Budget, and 25 per cent by the Forum Equity Partners.

Other items of interest

100th Anniversary of Eastview / Vanier
The Mayor recognized the 100th Anniversary of the founding of Eastview / Vanier. The Mayor, Councillor Georges Bédard, Francis Beaulieu, Curator, Vanier Museopark, and Mr. Yves Breton, President of the Board of Directors, Vanier Museopark marked the event with comments about the contributions of some of the residents of Vanier to the greater Ottawa.