The Westboro Beach Community Association (WBCA) is starting work on
Community Design Guidelines (CDG). The CDG will evolve over the next several
months by actively seeking input from neighbourhood residents. The intent of the
CDG is to allow neighbourhood residents to formally indicate what constitute desirable and appropriate changes to the neighbourhood to keep and enhance the characteristics that make it such a desirable place to live. It further refines at the neighbourhoodlevel what is included in the Richmond Road/Westboro Community Design Plan.
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Last June, seventeen young trees were planted along the beach using funding from the city’s Community Tree Planting Program. Many volunteers diligently watered these trees throughout the summer by carrying countless pails of water from the river. Thank you volunteers for keeping the trees healthy!
Two of the trees were relocated in early November to avoid potential interference with tobogganing runs. Paul Smith, a landscaper in our community, kindly provided his expertise and equipment to assist with the relocations.
Another season of regular watering is recommended for the trees so we hope to see our volunteers again this Spring.
Ground Breaking
Work on Roy Duncan Park has started with a grand opening planned for the summer of 2009. Located at the entrance to Westboro Beach at the corner of Churchill and Workman, the park will undergo a number of improvements over the next three years.
The project is a joint effort of the City of Ottawa, the Westboro Beach Community Association, the Dovercourt Recreation Centre, the Carlington Community Health Centre and a number of representatives from residents groups in the community . The changes to the park will mean more greenspace that can be enjoyed by everyone in Westboro Beach.
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The Westboro Beach Community Association was successful in obtaining $8500 from the city’s Community Tree Planting Program to plant 17 new trees at Westboro Beach. The trees were planted on June 16th near the patio and along the outer edges of the beach.
Over 20 individuals and families from the community volunteered to take responsibility for watering each tree every week until Thanksgiving. Although rainy days helped out this summer, in theory more than 40 000 litres of water were carried by pail from the river across the beach to the trees this season. Thanks to all those volunteers for their commitment and for the resulting healthy trees.
The placement of a couple of the new trees could interfere with winter tobogganing runs on each side of the slope towards the beach. Later this fall, when it is appropriate to transplant these trees, volunteer labour will be organized to relocate them under the supervision of a tree expert.
Westboro Beach received a lot of attention this summer because of the number of days that the beach was closed for swimming. Out of a season of 65 days, the beach was posted with a no-swimming advisory for 23 days. 14 of these postings were the result of elevated E. coli levels and 9 of the postings were caused by the ‘rain rule’…in other words, after heavy rains it is assumed that storm water runoff will cause pollution at the beach.
A report prepared by Baird Associates on the Bacterial Assessment at Westboro Beach was made available this past Spring (and can be viewed on our website). The findings of the report are somewhat inconclusive, but they do confirm that storm sewer discharges from outfalls upstream of Westboro Beach are key contributors to the bacterial contamination at the beach during wet weather.
Alternatives to mitigate the issues at Westboro Beach are presented in the report and fundamentally the WBCA supports a stormwater detention alternative. I’ve been involved with Don Paskovich and John Almstedt in reviewing the report findings with Baird Associates and city representatives. An objective of our community association is to make sure that Westboro Beach continues to receive attention when it comes to funding for storm water infrastructure improvements.
Tuesday, September 30 7:30-9:30
Churchill Seniors Centre, Townhall, corner of Richmond and Churchill
The Annual AGM is the opportunity to hear about the activities, issues, concerns, accomplishments….of the 2007 Executive Committee. It is also a time to check in with your neighbours, suggest new initiatives, and let your voice be heard.
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