WHAT HAPPENED TO KANATA’S RECREATION PLANS?

In the nineties the former City of Kanata took a number of steps to try to meet the recreation needs of our rapidly growing community. There has been considerable discussion of those plans and whether they included a pool for Bridlewood and a recreation centre for Kanata Lakes.

Since being elected I have been working to track down information on plans from the former City of Kanata and, more particularly, any plans for Kanata Lakes and Bridlewood.

Plans for the Eva James Centre were on the books and some funding had been identified. The new City of Ottawa followed through on those plans.

The former City of Kanata also had plans for a new pool and arena for which no source of funding have been identified.

In December 2000 a report on a new indoor pool in Kanata came before the former City of Kanata council. The report recommended that a 50-metre pool be built in Kanata North. This recommendation follows a recommendation from 1995 that was never implemented to add a second pool to the Kanata Leisure Centre.

One of the items in the 2006 budget was funding for land acquisition for a recreation complex in Kanata North that will include a swimming pool and community meeting space. This is an expansion of the plans for the West District Pool.

What was originally proposed was a pool that could have been located in Goulbourn, West Carleton or Kanata. With the approval of funding for land acquisition for the North Kanata complex, it is now confirmed that this facility will be in Kanata.

The City’s commitment in late 2003 to purchase ice time at the Bell Sensplex helped address the requirement for new ice spaces. There may also be new ice surfaces in the Kanata North Recreation Complex.

With growth, there need to be additional recreation facilities in Kanata South. It will also be necessary to ensure commitments to build the Kanata North Recreation Complex are met. However, planning for new facilities in Kanata South will move us beyond plans from the former City of Kanata.

LIGHT RAIL VOTE MEANS PROBLEMS DOWN THE LINE

I voted against the proposal to award a contract to build a north/south light rail line, because the plans do not reflect the vision voters endorsed three years ago. That did not change with the vote. If we could have the vote again, I would still vote against the plans for north/south light rail.

However, the approval of the proposal to award a contract to build a light rail route from Barrhaven to the University of Ottawa does not end the debate on light rail. As those of us who opposed the project made clear there are a number of problems with the proposal for north/south light rail. Now we have to deal with those problems.

The indications are that the contract will be done in a way that makes it almost impossible for the city to back out of it – one of the many reasons I voted against north/south light rail is that we have not even seen the contract. This means the only option for those of us who opposed light rail is to look for ways to remove problems with the project or control costs.

What is proposed for the route through downtown is the biggest concern. Based on information that came out this spring, cramming buses and trains into one lane on Albert and Slater is unlikely to work. Safety issues that were raised based on the experience in Houston were not addressed. With a new council after November, there will hopefully be a chance to fix the problems with the downtown route.

The location of the terminus in Barrhaven at Woodroffe and Strandherd is another flaw. As long as the terminal remains at Woodroffe and Strandherd, it is almost certain we will be running empty trains through farmers’ fields. This is why I supported moving the terminus in Barrhaven from to the Town Centre to improve potential ridership. I would rather the proposal for north/south light rail had been rejected, but since we are stuck with it we have to look for ways to reduce the problems.

WORKING FULL-TIME FOR KANATA

I appreciate the chance to hear from you about issues affecting our community. You can reach me at 580-2474 (office), 580-2514 (fax), or peggy.feltmate@ottawa.ca