By Celebration Park Splash Pad Grand Opening
The splash pad in Celebration Park is almost complete. Please join me and the Central Park Community Association for the Splash Pad Grand Opening Celebration. Event details are as follows:
Date: Sunday, June 26, 2011
Time: 11:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. – Ribbon cutting ceremony
12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. – Games, food and fun
Place: Celebration Park, 200 Central Park Drive
The event will include a ribbon cutting ceremony for the splash pad, food and fun for the whole family. I look forward to seeing you there.
Neighbourhood Watch in Central Park
Recently, a few residents contacted me about reviving the Neighbourhood Watch program in Central Park. Neighbourhood Watch provides residents with the knowledge and resources they need to be make their community safer. I have put these residents in touch with the Ottawa Police to explore this partnership and I look forward to working with you and your neighbours to make this community a safer place to live, work and play. Anyone who would like more information about Neighbourhood Watch can call my office at 613-580-2486.
Spring Cleaning the Capital
Thank you to residents who participated in the 2011 Spring Cleaning the Capital campaign. I appreciate your efforts to keep our wonderful city clean, green, litter and graffiti free.
Half Price Parking for Motorcycles and Scooters Resumes
On Friday, May 20, 2011, the City of Ottawa resumed its half price motorcycle and scooter parking at:
- The ByWard Market Parking Garage, 70 Clarence Street; and,
- Ottawa City Hall Parking Garage, 110 Laurier Avenue West.
Since 2009, the City has offered half price motorcycle and scooter parking in the ByWard Market parking garage. The ByWard Market parkade has a separate entrance with a dedicated Pay and Display machine and 12 motorcycle/scooter-sized parking spaces. Spaces are also available at the City Hall parking garage although they are not configured specifically for motorcycles and scooters.
In addition to this, there is half price parking available year-round for motorcycles and scooters at all on-street and off-street Pay and Display machines. Motorcycle and scooter enthusiasts can take advantage of half price parking by pressing the grey motorcycle button to activate this feature.
The convenient, half priced parking is intended to encourage use of smaller, fuel-efficient forms of transportation.
Give Away Weekends
The City of Ottawa is holding two city-wide “Garbage Give Away Weekends” in 2011. The Give Away Weekends this year are June 4 and 5, 2011 and October 22 and 23, 2011. Council approved this plan to allow residents to give away objects they no longer want by simply placing them at the end of their driveway.
Here are some guidelines for setting out treasures:
- Place items at the curb
- Place stickers or signs on items with the word “FREE”
- At the end of each day, bring any uncollected gems back to your home
The intent of the program is to help residents reuse household items that otherwise might end up in local landfills. The City of Ottawa is calling on community groups and residents to participate in Give Away Weekend, and help discover the hidden treasures in your neighbourhood, community, and city. It’s another way to RETHINK GARBAGE and protect our most precious treasure – our environment.
Integrated Road Safety Program (IRSP)
May Initiative
Ottawa Police will have stop sign runners and motorists who speed in construction zones on their radar during the City’s Selective Traffic Enforcement Program (STEP) in May.
Disobeying stop signs – including rolling stops – is a serious issue on Ottawa roads. In 2009, 1,667 collisions at stop sign-controlled intersections resulted in one death and 462 injuries – 17 of them life-threatening.
As for speeding in construction zones, provincial legislation allows for the doubling of fines for motorists caught exceeding posted speed limits in construction zones when workers are present. Ottawa Police will be applying this legislation with a zero tolerance approach in May.
In Ottawa, between 2007 and 2009, 526 collisions occurred in construction zones resulting in 114 injuries, eight of which were serious. One construction worker was actually struck and injured on the job by a motorist.
