Hospital Plans for expanded parking to support the Heart Institute

CHNA representatives met with Cameron Love, Senior Vice President of The Ottawa Hospital (TOH) on November 22nd to discuss the hospital’s plans to expand parking for the upcoming expansion of the Heart Institute. Mr. Love said the hospital will be integrating the parking expansion plans and requirements with the Master Plan development strategy, which includes an option of developing a new hospital across the street from the existing Civic Campus. TOH recognizes the impact of funneling additional traffic down the residential streets to reach parking on Ruskin, and as such the Heart Institute development strategy along with the parking expansion plans is focused on decanting traffic from the surrounding streets and the campus. Mr. Love also outlined that the Ruskin lot will be required for parking in the future to allow patients access to the Heart Institute programs/services and TOH will work closely with the CHNA on options on how the Ruskin lot can be organized. Mr. Love outlined that the planning for the Master Plan and Heart Institute expansion is in the early stages and hopes to have additional information in March to share with the CHNA.

Hospitals and parking a hot topic

CBC is not the only media outlet looking at hospital parking these days. The Canadian Medical Association Journal also took up this issue in an editorial entitled Parking-centred health care (November 28, 2011 edition). You can view this editorial by going to http://www.cmaj.ca.

Park Your Frustration

CBC’s radio show White Coat, Black Art looks at the world of medicine, everything from euthanasia to medial errors to unmentionables. In October, the show looked at hospital parking woes and featured an interview with Amanda Farris, an Ottawa resident who lives near the Civic campus of The Ottawa Hospital. Amanda is also CHNA Treasurer, but she was not wearing her CHNA hat during the interview.

You can listen to the webcast at:

http://www.cbc.ca/whitecoat/blog/2011/10/28/park-your-frustration-show

City to hold online open house about Carling-Bayview Community Design Plan

The City of Ottawa's Planning and Growth Management Department is doing a Carling-Bayview Light Rail Transit (LRT) Corridor Community Design Plan (CDP) study. They sent the following message announcing an on-line open house about the Bayview part of this CDP:

The first online open house for the Carling-Bayview Community Design Plan (CDP) will be launched on November 15th, 2011, on www.ottawa.ca/carlingbayview.

Everyone is encouraged to review the information online, including the video presentations that describe the planning principles and the concept of the Bayview district, which you already saw earlier this year. Feedback and comments may be made by completing an online questionnaire survey.

Please help us spread the word out to your community. If you have a website, please feel free to provide a link the website that is going to host the online open house.

In the mean time, the project team is working on the planning and design options of the Carling district. We will call for the next meeting to discuss these options shortly.

Thanks very much for the help and we look forward to meeting with you soon.

If you have any questions, please direct them to Carling-BayviewCDP@ottawa.ca

Best Regards,

The Carling-Bayview CDP Team

CHNA Public Meeting on November 2nd

CHNA Treasurer Amanda Farris chaired the public meeting on November 2^ndand provided a report on some of the CHNA activities that have taken place since the last meeting.

Recap of events this year

Capital clean up in April: This was our 2^nd year and we added a 3^rd park as Ev Tremblay is now part of CHNA. We had a great turnout and great weather. The event occurred just a few days after the microburst wind storm that took down the staging at Bluesfest so there were lots of branches, sticks and debris that needed to be cleaned up. Thank you to everyone who participated in that event. It really seems to be making a difference in the safety and appearance of our parks. We look forward to the event again in 2012.

June was the Parks and Rec BBQ: Despite bad weather many folks came out for food, fun, the bouncy house and the bike polo demonstration.

October was the first annual Pumpkins in thePark event: A huge thanks goes out to our platinum sponsors Susan Chell (ReMax) and the Hampton Dental Centre. There was a fantastic turnout of over 400 parents, grandparents and children. We gave out 190 pumpkins.The kids played games, decorated pumpkins and got their face painted. Thank you to our volunteers. The event was so successful we are already making plans for next year.

Upcoming AGM: Reminder that the AGM and election of officers will be held in January of 2012. The date has not been set yet but will likely be at the end of the month. If anyone is interested in volunteering for an elected position or to chair a committee,please send an email to CHNA4U@gmail.com More detailed to following the coming weeks.

Amanda also introduced the CHNA executive and the guest speakers from Ottawa Hydro and the Ottawa Police.

Guest speakers

Mary Beth and Rebecca from Hydro Ottawa made a presentation on the Time of Use Meters. You can go to the following URL for more information on time of userates: http://www.hydroottawa.com/timeofuse/index.cfm?lang=e&template_id=326

Sergeant Milton, our neighbourhood Ottawa Police representative provided information on recent incidents related to children in our area. He said that the term“predator” was not an appropriate term for what we’ve seen. The incidents that occurred at Devonshire Public School appear to have been a miscommunication. The incident at Fisher Park happened after school. The boy involved had taken a course on how to deal with this type of encounter and followed the necessary steps to ensure his safety. No further incidents have been reported at this location nor has anyone matching the description of the reported individual been linked to any other incidents. Officer Milton was not able to give us much information on the incident reported near Riverside as that is not his jurisdiction but he did confirm there was an incident of some sort and the description did not match that of the person at Fisher Park. Officer Milton also provided statistical information on crimes in our area as well as traffic accidents and intersections involved, including the following information:

-There were 14 break and enters in the CHNA catchment area in 2009 and 21 in2011.

-The top three intersections with accidents from 2009 until now were:

-Parkdale and Inglewood (356)

-Fairmount and Fuller (192)

-Carling and Parkdale (108)

Planningand Development Committee Report

Katherine Steinhoff, CHNA Vice President and co-chair of the planning and development committee,reported.

Community Design Plan: This issue has not advanced much since our last report in April. The City is doing a study to prepare for a Community Design Plan (CDP) along the Light Rail Train (LRT) corridor from Carling Avenue to Bayview. It has established a Public Advisory Committee (PAC) to assist and provide guidance during this study and the CHNA sits on this committee. This Public Advisory Committee has been looking at the Bayview station district and will be looking at the Carling station district next. The Carling portion of the CDP includes “underutilized” lands that fall within the CHNA catchment area. The City is preparing their presentation for the Carling area. Staff said they will be notifying CHNA about a meeting soon. There will also be an online open house for the Bayview area. You can get more information on the CHNA blog.If you’re interested, go to the March postings.

Civic campus parking expansion and development: The Civic Campus of The Ottawa Hospital (TOH) has plans to expand parking that could affect the neighbourhood. Earlier this year, Senior Vice President of the Hospital,Cameron Love, issued a memo to the Community Advisory Committee stating that there are plans for the Civic campus that“include expanding the onsite existing parking garage as well as a potential underground development of the Ruskin lot. ”The memo also indicated that the first phase of the parking expansion would be incorporated into the expansion plans for the Heart Institute. The Institute is adding a new wing.Constructions is expected to start in 2014 and take up to five years. CHNA Treasurer Amanda Farris and Vice President Katherine Steinhoff have a meeting with hospital officials later this month to find out more.

Developments near O-Train: Construction has not started on developments near the Carling O-Train stop, although it looks like100Champagne is revving up.

We know that residents are wondering what is going to happen with the former Humane Society property. The association was originally told that this property had been sold to Mastercraft Starwood. Apparently, this information was not correct. Councillor Hobb’s office says the property has been purchased or optioned by Ashcroft. Ashcroft has not yet submitted a proposal for the site.

500 Preston: While the proposed Soho Italia development at 500 Preston lies just outside the boundaries of the CHNA,it is very close and will undoubtedly affect our neighbourhood. The CHNA provided comments to the City on 500 Preston in August. Our comments are on the blog. We supported the Dalhousie Community Association (DCA) position that having a 350 foot wall rising straight up from the sidewalk is not good main street development. We also stated, that, like the Dalhousie Community Association, we do not think it makes sense to engage in ad hoc rezoning at the behest of developers and that the City should follow rational plans based on input from the citizens and taxpayers of Ottawa.

As well,the association raised traffic concerns and encouraged the City to obtain funding from Mastercraft Starwood for a traffic study of the area if the development at 500 Preston Street proceeds. Mastercraft Starwood has decided to revise its plans. They bought an adjoining lot and now the podium is lower,broader and theoretically less bulky.The height has gone from 36 to 29 floors.And there are fewer apartments because there is less height. CHNA will keep you posted as this proposal proceeds.

Vice President’s Report

CHNA governance: The CHNA has been looking at the way it works and is considering making changes to its constitution and other aspects of the association. The association has posted a document on the CHNA blog thatoutlines a variety of issues and makes suggestions for:

1) clarifying the association’s structure,

2) fine-tuning its decision-making processes

3) and ensuring that the CHNA speaks clearly on issues of concern to the neighbourhood.

We’d like members to take a look at the document and let us know what you think. The blog posting is titled“CHNA goverance” and it was posted in September. In the months to come, we will be following up on this work by posting proposed changes to the CHNA constitution. The changes will be discussed and voted on at an Annual General Meeting.

Traffic Committee Report

Peter Eady, chair of the traffic committee could not make the meeting. Marshall Perrin, executive member-at-large and member of the traffic committee gave Peter’s report in his absence. As a result of last year’s CHNA Annual General Meeting, a renewed Traffic Committee was formed. New members signed up and a first meeting was convened.

At that meeting, hosted by a 3^rd party facilitator, neighbourhood traffic and parking issues were brought forward by those in attendance. These issues were carefully discussed and prioritized according to what people cared about most, what they though could be achieved (winnability), and what efforts would be required (do-ability).

The top 3 priorities identified were:

1. Traffic Calming and Diversion Measures to encourage use of Carling Avenue and to lessen impact of through traffic on residential streets

2. Establishing a 40Km enforced speed limit throughout the area

3. Getting a commitment from the City to fund an independent traffic study in light of recent development and intensification

That does not mean there are not other issues. It just means that these generally affect everybody in the area and will be the focus of the Committee’s resources with an aim towards achieving them in12 – 36 months.

Other issues are ones that are still important but are more localized and will be worked on but have a longer time line of 12 – 60 months.

As the priorities are achieved in part or in whole, the other issues move up the list. Obviously, it is important to reassess and re-focus priorities as new issues are identified and crises develop. This would be done once a year at a meeting of the full Committee.

On the top 3 priorities there are some encouraging signs. CHNA had a commitment early on from Councillor Hobbs to support our goal of a 40km enforced speed limit throughout the area. We have already requested a follow up meeting to discuss this and other matters.

Further,$30,000 from a developer was set aside and is to be allocated to a larger area traffic study or used on another measure in the next year or so, if another measure is deemed more worthwhile than a study. As many of you are aware, traffic and parking concerns are increasing on all our streets and affect each of us directly whether it be noise, cut through traffic,volumes, and so forth. Traffic studies can cost up to $100K to do and Councillor Hobbs said she would try and pool other requests and funds for other studies into a larger one for the area. We will raise the issue at our next meeting with her.

The Committee decided that it would be based on “issue reps” and that individuals could take on issues important to them and be the point person for that action item (eg. Higher Queensway sound barriers on south side, improving cycling routes and safety in the area, street parking and permits, etc.).

Given how busy we all are with work, family and other social commitments, the goal is to break down the work into small and achievable tasks that the average person can easily manage. That is why we are still trying to grow the membership of the Committee. Many hands make light work as they say. We would really like it if any of you couldjoin the Committee and give us a hand even if it’s only an hour of your time a month.

Report from CAC Liaison

Gisele Microys, one of CHNA’s liaisons on the Community Advisory Committee (CAC) of the Ottawa Hospital, made a report on CAC and its activities.

Information about the CAC: Wide variety of representation: Ottawa Public Health, OH Spiritual Care

-Several community associations, the Council on Aging of Ottawa, Ottawa Chamber of Commerce,Community Care Access Centre, and others.

-Monthlymeetings alternate between the Civic and General Hospitals

-Thepurpose of the CAC is to provide advice and feedback to the Board on itsdirections, policies, and services as they affect the community.

-GiseleMicroys/Keith Hobbs represent CHNA

Topics/presentations in the pastyear: Traffic/parkingissues specifically around Civic Campus/Ruskin lot. There are proposed changesbut no definite plans have been revealed.

- Expansionof Heart Institute details pending

- TheOttawa Hospital (TOH) Occupancy rate is too high at 103%. It was as 95% 10years ago; Alternate Level Carepatients create challenges; difficulty in placing patients who no longer needacute care; leads to staff stress, increase of in-hospital infections &cancellations of surgery; tertiary hospital care not always best for theelderly (65% of patients 65+ yrs.); solutions to patient flow, especiallyoutflow to be addressed by all.

- Wait timesin Emergency Department. Increased patient load a problem.

- TOHwebsite redesign, major improvement

- March2011, implementation of professional staff attire (white coats)

- Sexualassault patient care. Improved staff training & patient care

- TOHvision/mission is to deliver world class care and become a top 10% performer inquality/safety in North America

- Innovativeoptions for health care/electronic integration etc.

- Implementationof interprofessional model of patient care by December 2011

- ‘You’rein my care’ to reinforce TOH mission and others

CHAPaRC Report

The CivicHospital Area Parks and Recreation Committee (CHAPaRC) is better known as theParks Committee and is a separate organization from CHNA. However, our associationworks closely with this group. This is why the Park’s report may soundfamiliar.

CHAPaRC has had a great year sofar. All 3 parks have been busy placeswith lots of people out enjoying the space. Ev Tremblay is always rocking withthe bike polo people. Fairmont Parkwrapped up another successful winter rink season which only happens as a resultof the work of a whole group of dedicated volunteers. Capital Clean Up wasApril 30. All 3 parks participated andall 3 parks had a good turn-out of volunteers. The scouts came out and lent a hand at Reid Park. The weather was perfect and all the parkslooked fantastic by the end of the day. If you participated in the clean-up and you’re now looking for your raketo pick up leaves – CHAPaRC has a small collection of orphans – saranixonottawa@gmail.com. Thesecond annual Community BBQ was held at Reid Park on June 25. A tricky day – a bit of rain. But no one seemed to care. Everyone contributed food. The scouts brought their BBQ and did thecooking. The kids loved the Bouncy Housesponsored partly by the City of Ottawa and partly by our friends at DovercourtCommunity Centre. Even with the rain,there was a good turn-out and not surprisingly, with a scout troop in the crowd– there was no food left at the end of the day. Thank you to everyone who cameout to these events and participated. This is what makes a good neighbourhood. We will no doubt, try to organize events over the winter. The Dog Dudes Christmas Party is usually heldat the crack of dawn at Reid Park, just before Christmas. If you would like to help, or have suggestions,send us a message at saranixonottawa@gmail.com.

Councillor Holmes speaks out on condo developments

Councillor Diane Holmes thinks the City needs a plan to support all the development in the downtown core. Read all about it in the October 26th edition of the Ottawa Citizen:

City centre unprepared for condo influx

Diane Holmes decries lack of amenities as committee approves another highrise

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/City+centre+unprepared+condo+influx/5605801/story.html

REMINDER - CHNA Public Meeting on November 2nd

Please join us for the Civic Hospital Neighbourhood Association (CHNA) Public Meeting:

When: Wednesday November 2nd at 7p.m.

Where: Location is the hospital amphitheater 2nd floor

Agenda is as follows:

7:00 pm Introduction & Announcements

7:30 Committee Reports (Planning & Development, Parks Committee, Community Advisory Council of TOH & Traffic).

8:00 Hydro Ottawa to present on Time of Use Meters, Q& A session to follow

8:30 Ottawa Police Representative to speak on safety in our neighbourhood, Q& A to follow

8:50 Distribution of a survey

Peter Hume promises a future of certainty regarding new developments

Planning committee chairperson Peter Hume gave a very interesting speech to the Ottawa Real Estate forum.

http://blogs.ottawacitizen.com/2011/10/10/hume-on-planning-one-of-ottawas-most-important-speeches-ever/

CHNA executive committee meeting minutes - September 2011

CHNA Executive Committee Meeting

September 22, 2011 - 7:30 p.m.

In attendance: Marshall Perrin, Amanda Farris, Katherine Steinhoff

Absent: Alayne MacGregor, Scott Bradley

1. Traffic committee strategic plan

MOVED: That CHNA approve the Traffic Committee's Strategic Plan. CARRIED

RECOMMENDED: That the priorities of the Traffic Committee be outlined at the

next Membership meeting . The executive will seek input and advice from

Chair of Traffic Committee on how best to proceed with membership

endorsement and feedback.

2. Governance document and amendments to CHNA constitution

MOVED: That CHNA approve the CHNA governance document. This document outlines a variety of issues and makes suggestions for clarifying the association’s structure, fine-tuning its decision-making processes and ensuring that the CHNA speaks clearly on issues of concern to the neighbourhood. CARRIED

DECISION: The executive will further discuss possible amendments to the association’s constitution. Amendments must be passed at a CHNA Annual General Meeting.

3. CHNA public meeting in November

The meeting’s primary goal will be to update the membership on issues of general interest, such as parks and recreation development, expansion plans at the Heart Institute and traffic and safety concerns. It was further decided that the Annual General Meeting — including the election of officers — will be held in January 2012.

The executive also developed a draft agenda for the November meeting:

7:30 Reports from the Planning and Development Committee; Civic Hospital Area Parks and Recreation Committee (CHAPaRC); Community Advisory Committee (CAC) of the Ottawa Hospital; and Traffic Committee.

8:00 Speaker from Hydro

8:30 Speaker on safety in the neighbourhood, including traffic.

8:50 Distribution of survey and announcement about upcoming elections

ACTIONS - Amanda will talk to CHNA’s police representative.

-Katherine will talk to the Traffic Committee Chair about outlining the primary priorities of the Committee’s strategic plan and how best to invite the endorsement/feedback of the membership.

4.Infill issues

a) TABLED Report on City Infill Meeting on September 14th

b) 211 Melrose – The executive discussed the CHNA survey on 211 Melrose and the process used for arriving at a decision on this matter.

5. Pumpkins in the Park on October 29th

ACTIONS: Amanda will meet with key sponsor, Susan Chell, to discuss logistics and additional sponsorship for the event. She will also meet with Kate Harrigan to discuss the newsletter content and layout. Newsletter expected to be sent by Oct 14^th to residents.

Minutes from meeting on July 13, 2011 to come.

Ottawa curb-side giveaway weekend - October 22 & 23

Rules for setting out items:

• Place items at the curb.
• Place stickers or signs on items with the word "FREE".
• Ensure any items that you want to keep are away from your set out treasures or tucked away safely in your garage.
• At the end of the day, bring any uncollected gems back to your home.

Giveaway items could include:

• Books, CDs and DVDs
• Old furniture and small appliances
• Construction materials - including drywall and hardware such as nails, bolts and screws
• Kitchen gadgets, dishes, cutlery, pots and pans
• Unwanted gifts

For more information, go to:
http://ottawa.ca/garbage_recycle/garbage/giveaway_en.html

Survey results from last CHNA membership meeting

At the last Annual General Meeting, we handed out a survey which asked: What neighbourhood issues are affecting you? Traffic: Too fast? Too much? Safety issues? Transit, cycling, walking: Can you do these comfortably? New development: Construction problems? Shadowing? Density? Safety: Break-ins? Other safety issues? Anything else? What are the possible solutions? What do you think would make our neighbourhood better?

What you said:

Member #1 on issues or problems

-Overnight parking on Melrose between Ruskin and Carling. Double-parking both sides of street. U-turns. Blocks the traffic – my route out of my neighbourhood.

Possible solutions or ideas: More traffic enforcement on this block.

-Need an additional pedestrian crossing of Driveway/Prince of Wales, e.g. if you want to walk from ornamental gardens to arboretum.

Possible solutions or ideas: Maybe a roundabout?

Member #2 on issues or problems

-Integrated bike lanes

Possible solutions or ideas: More Laurier Street extensions into the neighbourhood.

-Density (intensification)

Possible solutions or ideas: Work more with the developers to find solutions. Urban intensification is a given and it will affect us so we need to keep city planners accountable and look for ways to encourage development so they work with us.

-Transit

Possible solutions or ideas: Encourage the LRT on Carling. Spending billions to put rail where we already have a transit system does not help diversity the use or destinations it serves. Encourage OC Transpo - through counsellors to reduce suburban transit for urban use.

Member #3 on issues or problems

-Speed on neighbourhood streets

Possible solutions or ideas: Reduce speed limit, more on street parking. NO speed bumps.

-Don’t find a real problem with volume of traffic

-Cycling lanes. More!

-Density not really a problem, the other alternative is urban sprawl – ugly, costly.

Possible solutions or ideas: Work with developers to come up with solutions.

Member #4 on issues or problems

None. Everything is great.

Member #5 on issues or problems

-Traffic volume & speed

Possible solutions or ideas: Traffic plan, calming, 40 km/hour

-Trucks on Fairmont

Possible solutions or ideas: Signs

-Development and density

Possible solutions or ideas: Where is the holistic approach rather than piecemeal tackling of the impacts.

Member #6 on issues or problems

-Increasing traffic on Bayswater Avenue – difficult to get out of driveway – more dangerous for community –traffic is from new Hickory development.

Possible solutions or ideas: Divert traffic from Hickory development onto Carling.

-No infrastructure, grocery stores, etc. -community that encourages people to use cars.

Possible solutions or ideas: Build infrastructure – grocery stores, drug stores, etc. into community development plan

Member #7 on issues or problems

-The Ruskin lot that the Ottawa Hospital now wants to build a garage on is not Hospital property. Belongs to City and has a 30 year no construction agreement signed by the hospital and neigbourhood.

Possible solutions or ideas: Transit is the solution. If structure to be built then use the hospital space available on Carling Avenue and thereby not have traffic through the community.

CHNA governance

The CHNA has been looking at the way it works and is considering making changes to its constitution and other aspects of the association. Take a look at the following proposals and let us know what you think. Also, please contact us if you are interested in running for any of the positions listed below (chna4u@gmail.com). We will post proposed changes to the constitution in the months to come. All proposals go to a vote at the Annual General Meeting. You can view the current constitution at: http://chna4u.blogspot.com/2010/08/about-us_3052.html

GOVERNANCE ISSUES: This document outlines a variety of issues and makes suggestions for clarifying the association’s structure, fine-tuning its decision-making processes and ensuring that the CHNA speaks clearly on issues of concern to the neighbourhood.

I. Composition of the Executive

According to the 1982 constitution, the Executive Committee consists of:

· The Officers of the Association (Includes President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Past President)

· The District Directors.

· The Chairs of all Association Committees.

· Ad Hoc Members selected by the Executive Committee or general membership.

The Executive currently has five members, all of whom were elected at the last AGM: a Vice President, a Secretary, a Treasurer, and two Ad Hoc or Executive Members at Large (no one ran for President at the last AGM). The Association also has Chairs for two Committees and two Liaisons (see below), but Chairs and Liaisons were not elected at the AGM, a requirement for Executive Committee membership under the CHNA constitution. (The position of District Director has long fallen into disuse.)

Proposal: Delete references to executive positions that no longer exist. Delete Past President’s position on the Executive as this position has no clearly defined role. Establish an executive that consists of four Officers and five Committee Chairpersons. Ensure that Committee Chairpersons are elected at the next Annual General Meeting along with the other Officers. To keep the Executive to a reasonable size, delete the position of Ad Hoc Member.

The Executive Committee would therefore consist of the following four officers:

· President

· Vice President

· Secretary

· Treasurer

and the Chairpersons of the following five Committees:

· Events and Fundraising

· Safety

· Traffic

· Planning and Development

· Communications

II. Liaisons

CHNA currently benefits from having two liaisons whose primary job is to report on the activities of other organizations of interest to the Association. These liaisons attend meetings of the Community Advisory Committee (CAC) of the Ottawa Hospital and the Federation of Citizens’ Associations (FCA) of Ottawa-Carleton,

Proposal: Give liaisons voice but no vote at CHNA Executive meetings. Encourage liaisons to be Committee Chairpersons.

III. Executive decisions

The constitution currently says that the CHNA operates using Roberts’ Rules of Order and that “The Executive Committee shall have the power to act on behalf of the Association following a majority vote of the [executive] members present.” However, the Executive has tended to conduct its business with less formality than the constitution suggests.

Proposal: The Executive should move motions and conduct formal votes more often than in past.

IV. Executive meetings:

Meetings of the current Executive have been held irregularly.

Proposal: Plan to meet the last Wednesday of every month, except for July, August and December. Meetings may be cancelled if there is no urgent business.

V. Agenda for executive meetings:

Proposal: To facilitate proper preparation and informed discussion, the agenda should be issued at least one week prior to an executive meeting. Executive members should send additions to the agenda four days in advance of a meeting, but last minute additions shall be considered in emergency situations.

VI. Membership meetings

Some community associations have regular monthly membership meetings. CHNA does not. This is due, in part, to the fact that the CHNA does not have a community centre where people are able to meet. It is not realistic to expect executive members to hold membership meetings in their homes or rely on the Civic Hospital to provide a space for the organization every month. It is also difficult for our small executive to organize additional meetings, carry out the work of the organization and participate in the paid labour force. The CHNA normally has one to three membership meetings a year.

Proposal: Have two to three membership meetings a year. Give residents advance notice of these meetings. (Monthly meetings might be possible in future if the neighbourhood gets a community centre and if additional volunteers step forward to help organize these meetings.)

VII. Minutes or notes from meetings

Proposal: Produce short minutes and post them on the CHNA blog.

VIII. Constitution

The 1982 constitution needs to be reviewed with a view to updating and clarifying how the CHNA actually operates.

Proposal: Review and revise the constitution. Bring to next Annual General Meeting for discussion and adoption of changes.