Regal Heights Residents’ Association Fall General meeting Tuesday November 17, 2015 7 p.m. Room 119, Oakwood Collegiate Institute
Welcome from Principle Richard Nosov – Prinicipal Nosov welcomed the community to OCI and shared an update about the high school over the past year. Notable items include: the installation of 150 solar panels on the school roof, the installation of a new gym floor, and an outreach program to surrounding community schools to promote OCI as their high school of choice. Mr. Nosov has started work on plans to resurrect the fountain at the northeast corner of OCI and to revitalize the north fence of the playing field. The girls’ basketball team has won the championship and will be heading to the Ontario finals in Windsor. Efforts to keep the school field in usable condition for the students and public include focusing security cameras towards the field, and posting of signs prohibiting dogs from using the field. He also shared that a dog park exists on Glenhurst behind the No Frills for dogs to use.

Councillor Cesar Palacio – announced two upcoming public meetings: 1) Monday November 23, at 7 pm at JJP – the Annual Community Safety Town Hall Meeting with the new Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders (click for more information here!). It is an opportunity for residents to express their local concerns to the Chief and Unit Commanders in this Community Safety forum. 2) December 2, 2015, at 7 pm at JJP – City of Toronto Environment Assessment of the congestion at the Keele/Davenport/Old Weston Rd intersection.

Other news from the City Councillor:

• A motion put forth by Cesar for the City to adopt an official policy supporting street murals is meeting with resistance. Public support is welcome via emails, and/or in person when this matter is next addressed at the Council meeting on January 21, 2016.
• The Ascot daycare will be moving from Regal Road Public School to OCI. Cesar is working with the City to find funds to help update the space to accommodate the daycare and keep it in our community.
• An application has been received for 898 -900 St. Clair West to be redeveloped into a 14-storey condominium. One public meeting has already been held to address this application which some residents feel is too high for the location and out of place for the community. Cesar plans to hold another public meeting to further address concerns and gather community input.

MP Julie Dzerowicz introduced herself to the group and reiterated that the Liberals have an ambitious agenda to fulfill. She will be working closely with Councillor Palacio and MPP Christina Martins on several issues of importance to our community. She shared that she has a reputation for two things: hard work and getting things done. She says she looks forwards to doing this for our community.  Congratulations Julie!

School Trustee Marit Stiles spoke to the issues of the possible closure of neighbourhood high schools, including OCI. She feels that the many initiatives to renew and improve OCI will help to keep the school open. However she stated that the decision about which school or schools to close has not yet been made and that continued lobbying on behalf of OCI should be kept up.

1. 1. Street Beautification
      1. Mary Anne Quance gave an overview of the planting and beautification program. The barrels will soon be dressed for the winter and any further donations of evergreen boughs are much appreciated. The fall clean up of the three gardens has been done for this year.
      2. Graffiti -please continue to report graffiti either by calling 311 or email RHRA.beauty@gmail.com  for Mary Anne to report it. Homeowners are encouraged to file a police report of graffiti on their properties on-line.
      3. Rosemount and Springmount garden sprinkler system -John reported that with the assistance of Councillor Palacio, the damage to the newly installed system has been repaired by the City.

 

1. Planning, Zoning, Construction

1. Communications update -Peter Norman is continuing to manage our email communications site. He is monitoring the amount of emails to prevent flooding our in-boxes. Comments on the email and social media services of RHRA are welcome.
2. Oakwood Collegiate Field -anyone with ideas about how to prevent dogs from digging up the OCI field and the problem of dog droppings is encouraged to share them. Councillor Palacio also mentioned that there is an off leash dog park available at Earlscourt Park. Ideas can be sent to john_keating@bell.net
3. Update on tennis court improvements – Carolynna Gabrielle gave an update on the progress of her proposal to rebuild the outdoor basketball area next to the OCI parking lot into tennis courts. She has been working on using a blended funding model to raise the $150K capital costs needed to resurface the courts and still be able to provide reasonably priced lessons to the public. It is hoped that the courts will be open and operational in the coming spring. For more info go to www.wilmingtontennis.ca or forward questions to wilmingtontennisgroup@gmail.com

 

• Special Events
  1. Ideas for a memorial to Dick Watts and a memorial page on regalheights.ca -the public is invited to shared their memories and tributes to Dick Watts on our website at www.regalheights.ca
     Harry Lay presented three ideas for a memorial to Dick. These include:
     1. a monograph of Dick’s artistic works -David Keith expressed interest in assisting.
     2. use the City program to sponsor a bench along Rosemount Ave.
     3. name the Glenholme stairs after Dick.

     The issue will be further discussed at the next RHRA meeting.

  2. Christmas Carol Sing -Brigid invited all to come join in this year’s Carol Sing, which will take place on Friday December 18th from 7 to 8 pm at the northeast corner of OCI.
  3. RHRA Pub Night -Beth reported that our eighth pub night was held a few weeks ago. It continues to have a good turnout where neighbours can meet each other have a conversation over a meal. The next one will be planned for Dec. 10th.
  4. Street mural initiative – Dave reported on the process of this 3-year-long project that came to fruition this year with the painting of a street mural on Springmount during the Regal Heights Street party. He stressed Councillor Palacio needs strong public support to legalize the process at the Public Works Infrastructure committee meeting. A Toronto staff report will be presented at that meeting on January 21, 2106.

 

• Syrian refugee initiative -Lara Roccatani was present to answer questions about sponsoring Syrian refugees. Many organizations have begun the process of fundraising to sponsor families. Two meetings have been held to share information about the process, and a third will be held on Tuesday at St. Matthews’ United Church to look at fundraising and to decide how many refugees to sponsor. It costs $27,000.00 to sponsor the average family. All are welcome to join the meeting and each person can decide for themselves the degree of participation they wish to engage in. For more information contact John Keating at john_keating@bell.net

 

• Police community partnership -Rosa Cordiano reported that the next PCP meeting will be held at St. Clare School on December 3rd at 7pm in the cafeteria. The public is welcome to bring forth their concerns and speak directly with police officers. The police wish to congratulate and thank the residents of Police Division 13 on their community engagement as it has resulted in this area having one of the lowest crime stats in the City of Toronto. People are reminded that during this upcoming festive season to lock their car doors and keep purchases and belongings out of sight. Any minor crimes e.g. broken car windows should be reported to the police at 416 808-2222, as they use trends to help prioritize police resources. Police reports can now be submitted on-line through this portal: click here.

 

• Community welcome project -Harry reported that welcome packages are delivered to newcomers to the area, tenants and owners alike. We ask residents to help us identify these newcomers. If you know of someone new moving in please let us know at harrylay@bellnet.ca or through our communications director Peter Norman at rhracomm@gmail.com.

 

• Finances and Membership
  Presently we have 41 paid memberships. Our record high of 81 was two years ago. Households in the area are invited to pay the voluntary $10/year membership to help fund the projects carried out through the year by the Regal Heights Residents’ Association to build a more beautiful and stronger community.

  Finances	October 20, 15	November 17, 15
  Operating Fund	$2,520	$2,576
  Heritage Fund	992	992
  Mt Royal Bump-out (in trust)	745	745
  Street Sale (in trust)	150	150
  Petty Cash	0	0
  Total	$4,407	$4,463

 

• Other
  1. Public meetings postings -Councillor Palacio was asked whether notices of public meetings could be posted at TTC stops. A key is available to access the shelters which Councillor Palacio will look into obtaining.
  2. Fall leaf pick-up -Councillor Palacio is working with the City to have the leaves picked up soon. He will look into posting the pick-up dates on his website when known.

Next Meeting:  Tuesday January 19, 2016. Location to be determined.