Manotick virtual Town Hall May 6
By Councillor Scott Moffatt
Ward 21
To begin this week, I would like to take a moment and congratulate the work of the Manotick, Culture, Parks & Recreation Association on securing grant funding from the Federal & Provincial Governments on their exciting renewal plans for the Centennial Park outdoor rink and skatepark which will also include basketball courts. This project is in collaboration with the City but was truly spearheaded by the volunteers in the community.
I will discuss that project and other goings on during my Town Hall series with Manotick’s scheduled for May 6. Details of all upcoming virtual Town Halls are below. They will be done in Zoom Webinar format so no need to get dressed, you won’t need to be on camera.
Thursday, May 6
Manotick Town Hall
Meeting ID: 889 0359 4336
Passcode: 888329
Monday, May 10
North Gower Town Hall
Meeting ID: 837 9910 9686
Passcode: 108686
Tuesday, May 18
Richmond Town Hall
Meeting ID: 897 4768 0614
Passcode: 958433
As mentioned, all meetings will be held via Zoom and will begin at 6:30pm. Registration is not required.
MTO Highway 416 Construction Update
I don’t always talk about work being undertaken by the Province but the 416 is a vital piece of infrastructure for residents throughout Ward 21 and there will be some upcoming work including a much-needed improvement to the northbound offramp intersection at Hunt Club.
The overall project, awarded to Aecon Construction Ontario East Ltd, will provide improvement to the Highway 416 / West Hunt Club Road interchange ramps, and intersection improvements at Cedarview Road and ramp terminals.
Due to this construction, overnight lane / ramp closures are scheduled to begin on May 17th, 2021. The construction will be staged over this time, work areas will change as operations are initiated and completed. The estimated completion date is June 11th, 2021.
Construction will occur at the following locations:
- Highway 416 / West Hunt Club Interchange (All ramps)
- West Hunt Club / Cedarview intersection
- Cedarview Road between West Hunt Club / Bruin Road
New traffic signals to be installed on Cedarview at the intersection with the Highway 416 Northbound on and off ramps, with activation date scheduled for end of May 2021. Highway 416 Ramps at West Hunt Club Road will see renewal as part of this project as well including; milling, paving, line painting and signage on all five interchange ramps.
Ward 21 Hydro Ottawa Project
Our office is updated regularly by Hydro Ottawa on what they have planned in our ward. While half the ward is Hydro One, this newspaper is also delivered into the Hydro Ottawa area so I will share the text of that most recent update here providing a heads up on scheduled works for 2021.
Hydro Ottawa has identified essential projects that are coming up throughout the former Goulbourn Township and Nepean Township area in 2021. These projects have been deemed essential as a result of the end of life equipment, damage to equipment and/or tied to City of Ottawa projects that have been deemed essential to continue with the community.
It’s important to note that not all projects will result in an outage. For residents and commercial customers impacted by an outage, they will be notified a minimum of 72 hours in advance by phone, text or email based on the contact information we have on file. For all outages over 4 hours, they will also receive a written notification to their home or business at least five business days prior to the outage taking place.
Information for projects and scheduled outages are posted on Hydro Ottawa’s website at
http://hydroottawa.com/en/community/planned-work-projects/planned-work.
Below is the current schedule of projects currently scheduled within the Rideau-Goulbourn ward. Please note that these numbers can change and do not include emergency service or tree trimming work that is completed throughout the year. These numbers are also fluid and are subject to change as a result of provincial directives around COVID-19, weather or other major events.
Critical Pole Replacements and Relocations
- Twin Elm Road
- Fallowfield Road
- Shea Road
- Flewellyn Road
- Wallace Court
- McBean Street
- Moodie Drive
Various (i.e. testing, vaults, secondary service transfers)
- Fortune Street
- Burke Street
COVID Related Small Business Tax Mitigation
On April 28th, Council approved by-law amendments that would determine the tax ratios between various tax classes for 2021 and the property tax due dates for 2022.
The City would adopt neutral ratios and use all optional property classes permitted by the Assessment Act, to allow for different taxation levels within a property class and minimize shifting the tax burden between tax classes.
Tax mitigation measures aimed at keeping Ottawa affordable were also approved, similar to those approved in previous years. These include rebates to charitable organizations, and deferral of taxes and water bill increases for low-income seniors and persons with disabilities. A mandatory cap is in place to limit tax increases from reassessments for commercial, industrial and multi-residential properties.
Council approved a recommendation directing staff to consult with residents on creating a small business property tax subclass. The proposed subclass would offer a 10-per-cent tax discount to approximately 4,700 commercial properties that house roughly 7,800 small businesses across Ottawa. The discount would be offset by an increase of 0.68 per cent for 7,300 large commercial and industrial properties. The changes would have no impact on residential taxpayers. Following consultation, staff would report to Council with final recommendations by the end of Q3 2021.
The Province has postponed property value reassessment for the 2021-2024 period because of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, opening assessment values for 2021 and 2022 will be the same as the closing assessment values for 2020. The new reassessment date and period will be announced at the provincial budget tabling this fall, following stakeholder consultations.
If you have any comments, questions or concerns, please feel free to email me at Scott.Moffatt@ottawa.ca or contact me by phone at 613-580-2491. For information on Ward 21 issues, please visit TeamTwentyOne.ca.
