Regal Heights Residents’ Association Executive Meeting Tuesday October 21, 2014 at home of Beth Marcilio, 79 Regal Road

Present: Richard Cavanagh, Rosa Cordiano, Linda DeGiorgio, Marie Goldthorpe, Anita Kung (recorder), Beth Maricilio, Dave Meslin, Peter Norman, Margaret Smith
Regrets:Harry Lay, Robert Szachrajuk, Mary Anne Quance

1. Street Beautification
   1. Street beautification, graffiti, garden clean-up
      * Mary Anne Quance will be reimbursed $190.76 for purchase of garden supplies.
      * It was decided that the newly-sodded area along the Springmount Ave. will slowly be developed into a small informal parkette. A small child’s slide has already been donated to the area. Some native grass seed, that is drought tolerant, was sown. Future plans include small bushes to be planted along the retaining wall.
      * the garbage bins at the bottom of the Springmount steps and by the Oakwood bus stop have gone missing. Marie will follow-up with the City to ensure they get replaced.
   2. Circulation of photos of electrical box murals – Dave has volunteered to take photos of existing electrical box murals to be circulated to encourage interest in having to same done to more of our local boxes.
   3. The Tile Project: an anti-graffiti idea – Margaret shared the example of a store in Hamilton having used a mural made from mosaic tiles as a graffiti deterrent. The idea was discussed and members agreed to consider it should the right circumstances present themselves, as it requires expertise and a source of materials to complete one.

    

2. Planning, Zoning, Communications
   1. Crossing guard, Rosemount and Oakwood – no representative present from Councillor Palacio’s office. Nothing to report.
   2. BIA Liaison – The RHVBIA is requesting assistance from the residents’ association by providing a letter in support to the City requesting bike rings and benches to be installed along St. Clair as was planned during the construction of the St. Clair ROW. Margaret will draft a letter and John will sign it on behalf of RHRA.
      * The BIA along with the Oakwood Collegiate Institute principal are looking for ways to brighten up the stretch of St. Clair in front of OCI. The purple street lights have helped, but they are still seeking ideas to make the chain-link fence in front of the school more attractive. For example, OCI students could create streetscape art. Regal Heights residents are welcome to suggest ideas.
   3. Street sweeping of leaves and snow – John followed up with another email to the Councillor’s office asking about regular servicing. As a result a street sweeper was sent into the area where an incomplete cleaning was done. No news of any regular scheduled servicing has been received. We will revisit this issue after the elections.
   4. Police Community Partnership – Rosa reported there has been no recent meeting.
   5. Website updates – Peter reported that contact names have been updated on the RHRA website. A link to a sign-up form to receive RHRA email has been added as well as the option to unsubscribe electronically.
   6. Communications update – Peter reported that the he is using the Mail Chimp service, which makes mass emailing easier and completely compliant with federal anti-spam legislation. RHRA Communications has a consistent look to the emails sent out. We have 314 names on the email list. 7 new names were added and 13 unsubscribed in the past six weeks. There has been a 46% read rate of the mailings sent out. There was a discussion around the “Marketplace” emails, which allow residents to offer/request non-commercial goods or services to other residents. It was decided to continue sending these emails for now, but to limit their number.
   7. Invitation to Hand Delivery list to join RHRA – 12 people receive hand-delivered notices of the executive meeting minutes. Only two are paid members. John has drafted a letter to encourage them to join the RHRA as members. To be deliver after the elections on October 27.

    

3. Community Events
   1. 1. Recap of municipal candidates meetings – Margaret reported the meetings were well attended, well presented and well received. A good cross section of the community showed up. The new OCI principal, Richard Nosov, had a chance to start a relationship with the different residents’ associations and the BIA. The anticipated cost of $300 for the evenings was unexpectedly bumped up due to TDSB policy requiring two paid duty officers to be present for an additional cost of $1,700.00. Thank you to the RHVBIA for picking up the cost. A further complication arose when TDSB demanded a $1,500.00 security deposit two days before the event. MPP Christina Martins assisted in the resolution of the deposit issue. However, these issues will arise again with bookings for future meetings. The BIA and residents’ associations plan to brainstorm on ideas of how to deal with these costs, which we feel are anti-democratic barriers. One idea is to attend the TDSB Community Use of Schools Advisory Committee meetings to raise concerns against the new paid duty officer and deposit policies. Their next meetings are on Thursday October 23, and Thursday November 13 starting at 9am. Contact Margaret if interested in attending.
      2. Street Murals – Dave reported that he is still waiting for a stretch of dry weather to try a chalk mural on the streets of Regal Heights. The goal is to complete one before the November public meeting. He will draw an outline in a paint-by-number format for children to follow to complete the mural. People will be encouraged to bring chalk to help fill in the drawing.
      3. Pumpkin carving October 25th – planned for Saturday October 25^th from 2 to 4 pm at the parkette at Northcliffe and St. Clair. Children were welcome to come out and carve pumpkins. Unfortunately the idea of a movie night to follow fell through.
      4. Beaujolais Nouveau Thursday – plans are being put together by Harry Lay. No details available.
      5. Next pub night – Beth will look into the possibility of December 4^th. The evening can be used to thank David Shanoff for his many years of assistance to RHRA.

    

   1. Regal Road School Centennial update – to be held November 8^th 1 to 4 pm
      * See Facebook page for more information!
      * a commemorative mosaic board has been created by the schoolchildren under the guidance of Chantel Leblanc. It is hanging in the lobby by the main office. Historical photos will be embedded into it when completed.
      * a commemorative coin will be cast and handed out to everyone student. Many thanks to Councillor Palacio who has help to cover the cost of the coin production.
      * Trustee Maria Rodrigues has promised Florence that a centennial tree will be planted in front of the school by November 8^th to help start of the creation of a garden in front of the school
      * there has been a great response from alumni offering things to display on Nov 8th.
      * Florence and Harry are still working towards the creation of a brass medallion plaque to be installed on the school portico. The estimated cost is $6000.00. Florence is looking into funding ideas.
   2. Street Sale report – a total of 62 tables participated in the street sale on June 21, 2014. A total of $124 was collected from the tables. Advertising for two weekends in the Toronto Star cost $46. Unfortunately there was no participation from any houses east of Oakwood Ave. Some shoppers commented that they did not know where to find Regal Heights. Next time the street boundaries should be included in the advertisement.
   3. Heritage walk postponement – Linda suggested rescheduling the heritage walk until the spring in conjunction with the unveiling of the brass plaque at Regal Road school.
      * the 1921 census of Canada is available for our area and can be accessed through Stats Canada or Ancestry.ca
   4. Schedule for meetings and Events 2014 – 2015
      November 18, 2014 – public meeting at OCI (to be confirmed)
      Friday December 19, 2014 – Carol Sing at OCI (to be confirmed)
      January 20, 2015 – OCI staffroom (to be confirmed)
      February 17, 2015 – a member’s home
      March 17, 2015 – OCI staffroom (to be confirmed)
      April 21, 2015 – a member’s home
      May 19, 2015 – Annual General Meeting at OCI (to be confirmed)

    

4. Community Welcome Project –
   no packages delivered lately. A reminder if you know of a new household or family who has moved into Regal Heights, bring to the attention of Harry Lay or Beth Marcilio.
6. Membership & Finances
   

   Finances	Sept 16/14	Oct 21/14
   Operating Fund	$2,116	$2,300
   Heritage Fund	992	992
   Mt Royal Bump-out (in trust)	745	745
   Street Sale (in trust)	72	150
   Petty Cash	52	52
   Total	$3,977	$4,239

   Next Meeting: Tuesday November 18, 2014, Fall General Public Meeting, location to be confirmed
   7 p.m