INPUT SOUGHT ON STEPS TO REDUCE SEWAGE FLOWING INTO OTTAWA RIVER

Last month, a report was presented on measures to reduce the flow of untreated sewage into the Ottawa River when it rains. Funding in the 2010 budget will be needed for work to go ahead. Between now and when funding proposals are presented in the fall, there will be consultations on the proposals.

While untreated sewage flowing into the Ottawa River when it rains has received more media coverage recently, the problem has always been with us since sewers were first installed.

New neighbourhoods were built with separate sanitary sewers and storm sewers. This means that when it rains it does not affect the sanitary sewer system.

It is different in older parts of the city. These neighbourhoods were built before the benefits of separate storm sewers were recognized. There both storm water and sewage flow into the one sewer system. When it rains capacity becomes a problem so the system is designed to discharge some of the water into the Ottawa River without it being treated first.

What has been proposed is a combination of measures including some sewer separation and sewage storage tanks to deal with capacity issues during storms. The estimated cost of the first stage is $203.8 million. Results from this approach will be comparable to completely separating storm and sanitary sewers in older parts of the City. Completely separating storm and sanitary sewers is estimated to cost over $2 billion and would still not completely eliminate the problem of untreated sewage flowing into the river.

PARENTS AND YOUTH HAVE A KEY ROLE IN REDUCING GRAFFITI

Graffiti tagging is a form of vandalism. It looks ugly and costs all of us a lot of money to cleanup.

Getting caught is also costly. In addition to the cost of tickets, the Parental Responsibility Act means parents are financially responsible for property damage or destruction caused by their children.

The City website has tips for parents on how to figure out if your child may be engaging in tagging and possible approaches to take. Information can be found at ottawa.ca/residents/environment/community/graffiti.

PRECAUTIONS AGAINST THEFT STILL NECESSARY IN THE SUMMER

When it starts to get warm most of us are in and out a lot more. It becomes easy to leave the door unlocked or the garage door open for a long period of time.

Unfortunately, thieves don’t take summer vacations. There has been an increase in the number of thefts reported recently in Kanata North and Stittsville.

These incidents are a reminder that it is still important to keep garage doors closed and doors locked when we can’t see who is going in and out.

CHAMPLAIN COMMUNITY CARE AND ACCESS CENTRE LOOKING FOR NEW BOARD MEMBERS

The Champlain Community Care and Access Centre makes important decisions about how long-term care in our community will be delivered. On September 23, 2009 elections will be held for the board. To get more information please go to www.champlain.ccac-ont.ca and select the link for board recruitment.

WORKING FULL-TIME FOR KANATA SOUTH

I appreciate the chance to hear from you about issues affecting our community. You can reach me at 580-2752 (office), 580-2762 (fax), www.feltmateforkanata.com or peggy.feltmate@ottawa.ca