Blog Posts - OSHAWA ROSEMARY

OSHAWA ROSEMARY

2019 Budget Telephone Q&A with City Commissioner of Finance

11/15/2018

Recently the City announced it is preparing the 2019 Budget, with an invitation to community members to share their views.
There is an on-line budget tool which Oshawa residents aged 18 yrs+ can complete for the chance to win a free i-pad.

As part of this public engagement City Staff arranged what they referred to as a 'Telephone Town Hall' November 15th. It was interesting. Over 35,000* Oshawa landlines received a City robo call between 7:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m to join in a Question and Answer session on the budget with Oshawa's Commissioner of Finance, Stephanie Sinnnott.

About a dozen* Oshawa residents asked questions, many related to Oshawa's high taxes, some asking for a property tax rate reduction. Many questions also related to parking and traffic issues, snow and garbage removal services. (Two callers requested the City reverse its weekly blue box and bi weekly garbage collection to biweekly blue box and have garbage picked up weekly.) One caller stressed the importance of addressing the homeless problem in Oshawa. A number of questions related to areas which Ms. Sinnott repeatedly said did not fall under the jurisdiction of the City, but were under the jurisdiction of the Region, such as policing and Regional roads such as Gibb street. (*At end of the session Ms. Sinnott indicated the stats and a summary of the Telephone Town Hall would be posted on www.connectoshawa.ca by the end of the month. )

The Online Budget Tool closes 4:30 p.m. Monday, November 26 for your chance to win an iPad at www.oshawabudget.ca

Cannabis Retail Stores in Oshawa? the City is asking you to Have Your Say

11/14/2018

https://www.connectoshawa.ca/cannabisretailstores
The Ontario government has released regulations that will guide the startup of private cannabis stores on April 1.
The stand-alone stores can be open any day between 9 a.m. and 11 p.m., but they must be at least 150 metres away from schools and bar entry to anyone under 19 years old.
A market concentration limit of 75 stores per operator has been set.
Until April, cannabis can only be legally purchased from the online Ontario Cannabis Store.
Applications for licences will begin on Dec. 17 and illegal cannabis retailers who were operating after legalization on Oct. 17 will not be eligible to receive cannabis sales licences.
Licences won’t be issued to any person or organization who has an association with organized crime, and applicants must demonstrate their tax compliance status to show they are in good standing with the government.

Oshawa's Memorial Park Remembrance Day, Sunday Nov 11, 2018

11/11/2018

The 1km parade from the Colonel R.S. McLaughlin Armouries to Memorial Park was most impressive, with marching bands, dozens of tanks from the Regiment Museum, military vehicles and spectators of all ages filling the sidewalks all along the route. The national anthem, speeches, two minutes of silence, a bugle playing The Last Post and gun volley held the large crowd's close attention.

On a bright, cool morning marking the 100th anniversary of the armistice signed at the end of Word War I, it was a memorable occasion, strengthening appreciation of our history, our community and our profound sense of gratitude to those who gave their lives for our freedom.

Getting My Feet Wet...

11/9/2018

Before being sworn in on December 3rd, these past two and a half weeks since the election have been a flurry of meetings, emails, questions and conversations with Senior Staff, Councillors-elect, Mayor-elect Dan Carter, City Manager Jag Sharma as well as assisting a couple of Ward 1 residents with specific problems.

It is stimulating meeting so many new people, with each day bringing interesting and different challenges. It is a job I feel capable of doing and am determined to do well!

My time, energy, ideas and commitment for the next four years will be focused and dedicated to work that will benefit Oshawa.

This week I submitted the following 22 talking points to City Manager Sharma. Although we had spoken a few times in the past when he was Commissioner of Community Services before he was made City Manager in 2015, it was a good 'introductory meeting'. I appreciate his obvious capabilities and attentiveness. I am sharing here what I submitted to him so anyone interested can read some of the changes, plans and ideas I hope to start with and will be working to accomplish.

Age-Friendly Oshawa

11/6/2018

Oshawa is developing an Age-Friendly Community Strategy.

City staff have scheduled pop-up focus sessions in various facilities around the City and will be gathering information in a 35 question survey. The survey is part of Oshawa's on-going effort to better understand and evaluate the needs and priorities of older adults in the community.

I attended the first focus session held in Ward 4 on November 6th at the John St. Oshawa Senior Citizens Centre, (OSCC) and heard some of the concerns and ideas Oshawa seniors were interested in sharing.

The next session will be held in Ward 1 on November 16th at the Columbus Community Centre, 3265 Simcoe St. N. between 1:30 and 3 p.m.

Pictured above is Colleen Zavrel, OSCC Program & Service Director outlining the Age-Friendly Community Strategy at the first focus session at the John St. OSCC.

Three issues named by some of the OSCC members participating in the first meeting were:
1/ the need for safe and affordable housing;
2/ access to convenient transportation and
3/ respect that not all seniors are at ease with using computers, email or texting to communicate

The City is asking Oshawa senior citizens to assist with recommendations and the development of an action plan that addresses the World Health Organization's (W.H.O.) Age-Friendly Community checklist, as a way to help the City better adapt its services and responsibilities to Oshawa seniors. The City also plans to apply to have Oshawa recognized as a W.H.O. Age-Friendly City.

The survey gives consideration of the W.H.O's checklist for a successful Age-Friendly community designation in the following 8 areas:

Outdoor spaces and buildings
Housing
Transportation
Social participation
Respect and social inclusion
Civic participation and employment
Communication and information
Community and health services

Spotlight on Oshawa Local History at McLaughlin Library

11/3/2018

I thoroughly enjoyed the Saturday afternoon presentations made at the McLaughlin Library (63 Bagot St.) by the panel speaking on many various aspects of Oshawa's history: Laura Suchan from the Oshawa Historical Society and Oshawa Museum, Jeremy Neal Blowers, Executive Director the Ontario Regiment Museum, Jane Clarke member of Heritage Oshawa, Eva Saether, Local History Librarian at Oshawa Libraries, and Sonya Jones, curator at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery (RMG).

The Local History room in Oshawa Library main branch (65 Bagot St) is immediately inside the front door on the right. The lights were dimmed to watch a power point and short video of the tanks and military vehicles at the Ontario Regiment museum. According to Jeremy Neal Blower, the Ontario Regiment Museum, located at 1000 Stevenson Rd. N., has the largest museum collection of working military vehicles in Canada, with many tanks from WWII and the Cold War. This November 11th the Museum will have over 45 tanks In Oshawa's Remembrance Day Parade and they will surround Memorial Park during the service 10:45 - 11:20 a.m.

Jane Clarke showed some wonderful pictures of Oshawa's heritage homes and buildings both designated and preserved, as well as those sadly lost to demolition. She told those in attendance how unfortunately the number of heritage properties in Oshawa is only 19 (10 of which are cemeteries) and very low compared to the over 60 designated in Whitby, and over 200 in Peterborough.

Laura Suchan's power point included pictures of the 3 very different heritage homes at Lakeview Park, the Guy House, Henry House and Robinson House, all preserved in their original location. She also spoke of the OHS's plan for a new building at Lakeview Park for archives, which she said hopefully will be completed in time for Oshawa's centennial in 2024.

Sonya Jones spoke with enthusiasm about Oshawa's beautiful 36,000 sq.ft. art gallery, built in 1969 and expanded in 1987. The RMG contains 4,600 works of art (the earliest dating from 1807) among which are 100 Group of Seven paintings and 1,000 of the Painters 11, a group of abstract artists organized by Oshawa resident Alexandra Luke. who was married to R.S. McLaughlin's nephew Ewart McLaughlin. There are also over 4,000 Oshawa photographs collected by Thomas Bouckley, an Oshawa native and local history enthusiast. The art gallery is open 7 days a week with free admission, and the first Friday of every month the RMG celebrates local talent with musical performances.

Meet with Downtown Oshawa BIA Executive Director Garth Johns

10/30/2018

It was a pleasure meeting Garth Johns, the Executive Director of the Downtown Oshawa Business Improvement Area (BIA). Right away you realize Garth is someone who really likes his job, which is working to help support and promote Oshawa's downtown businesses, property owners and tenants. The Oshawa BIA was first founded in 1974. There are two staff members Angela Mittoni, Office Manager and Events Co-ordinator, and Dave Croitorou, Social Media Facilitator, The 10 member Board is voted in each election year, 3 members are voted in by the BIA Board and 4 BIA members are voted in by Council, 1 resident of Oshawa, 1 Oshawa City Council member and 1senior staff member of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) part of the downtown campus and selected by UOIT's President.

Covering Ward 1 Streets, Sept - October 2018

10/22/2018

Ward 1 is geographically the largest but at present has the smallest population of Oshawa's 5 wards. With the number of new subdivisions approved by the current council, it is expected to grow rapidly, more than doubling its population in a few short years. About my campaign budget: to cover Ward 1's 121 streets and 6,000 residences, I ordered and handed out 6,000 campaign postcards (Accuprint 169 Simcoe St S. $454 + HST), and also ordered and put up 350 election signs (2 sizes) (Campaign Works $1,772 + HST)

What a time it's been!

10/20/2018

I have to say running for Oshawa Ward 1 City Councillor has been a wonderful experience! 48 hours from now the polls will be closed and no matter the outcome I am very glad I entered the race. Well wishes to all 51 Oshawa candidates, for Mayor, Regional/City and Local positions in our 5 new Wards. Although 11 will be elected, all of us can celebrate a new era of change for Oshawa.

And I want to give a shout out to Oshawa Ward 1 dogs! There are some pretty special pets here, a number that added a lot of fun to my door-to-door visits ... My family had quite a time coming up with a name for our puppy, and ever since I've been curious about dog names. Here's a list of some Ward 1 dog names: Button (and she really is cute as one); Phoenix and Raven, Teddy and Bear, Rascal and Quinn, Sonic, Gretzky, Eva and Chewy, Jasper, Shaggy, Cruze, Pablo, Oscar, Parker, Bernie, George, Sadie the greyhound, Mia and Meeka, Zero, Zoey, Harry, Oscar, Lucky, Joe, Jerry, Tucker, Tanner, Mollly, Shadow, Ember, Coda, Precious, Harmony and 4 named Diesel

Ritson/Coldstream @ 1707 Ormond Drive ...Development Advancing

10/15/2018

Nearing the end of my door-to-door election canvassing, I heard from a number of residents on Ormond Dr. interested in more information re the plan for the 5.6 acre site at the corner of Coldstream and Ormond, adjacent to the water retention area on Ritson.

Many watched a convoy of trucks this past week bring numerous loads of fill to 1707 Ormond,Dr. which is where Daniels Corporation is starting its first project in Oshawa.

The plan Daniels has submitted (see drawing below) includes 36 stacked townhome units each with attached garages, plus 32 back to back townhome units each with one surface parking space. The height will be 3 storeys (10.9 metres). There will be four additional visitor parking spaces. Oshawa's Zoning By-law 60-94 describes Stacked Townhomes as "a building designed to contain three of more dwelling units attached side by side, two units high." Sometimes stacked townhomes can be referred to as 'apartments' simply as the complex is multi-residential. Oshawa's Planning department anticipates Daniels Corporation will submit its condominium zoning application soon, so the units will be condo, not freehold ownership, and the interior road will be a private condominium road, not a city road.