Marianne Wilkinson Councillor, Kanata North KANATA TOWN CENTRE DEVELOPMENT

In the 1990s the City of Kanata purchased land in the Kanata Town Centre, adjacent to Kanata Avenue, in order to secure the land for a natural environment park of approximately 20 acres and to control the type of development on the remaining lands. At this time the park has been established, land was sold for the three apartment buildings at the corner of Kanata Ave. and Campeau Dr. and for the nursing home on Campeau Drive. The remaining lands were the subject of an agreement with Tundra that included putting in the roads and services, developing their head office and other development and constructing a main street complete with local retail activities, a town square and the Kanata City Hall. The down turn in the tech industry resulted in Tundra withdrawing from this development. The formation of the amalgamated City of Ottawa also put things on hold. Ive been meeting with staff on how to move this forward over the past few months and things are now starting to happen. What was to be the City Hall will now be a major municipal building containing the Client Service Centre for municipal, provincial and federal services, the District Library for western Ottawa (the Library Board unanimously approved my report recommending this site earlier this month) and some municipal offices. The Town Square will be retained. The remainder of the land will include high density development as envisaged by the City of Kanata. The property is already zoned for these types of uses. The City will seek proposals to undertake development of these lands, including the civic facilities, later this fall. The best proposals will then be selected and asked to provide details on how they would proceed, the architectural style, streetscapes etc. By next June a final selection should be made and development will commence following the normal site plan approvals. At the time of the original approvals by Kanata a series of meetings had taken place to develop the concepts to be used in developing these lands. Ive been able to obtain a copy of the report from the public consultations and will be inviting new and old residents to review these findings and provide additional comments. This will be a fantastic opportunity to contribute to an important part of our community. Check this column and my website to find the times and locations for these consultations.

KANATA EXPO 55+

Last weeks Kanata Expo 55+ was a great success with a large turn out of both exhibitors and members of the public. As usual, I learned a great deal about services for older adults in our community. Many thanks to those who participated in making this a great event and to Cheryl MacDonald from Councillor Feltmates office and Linda Leinan from my office who co-ordinated the event. Watch for another great event next year!

Blasting Issues
Arising from the meeting on blasting last week a Committee is being formed to develop better methods of providing information on blasting activities, minimize the impact on nearby residents and protect their quality of life. Ideas and suggestions can be made through my office. The results of the Committees work will be reported back to the community and Ill be taking those recommendations involving the City of Ottawa forward to the appropriate Committee.

Ward Office
The office in the Mlacak Centre will be completed within a few days. Ill be posting hours when the office will be open on the door. Appointments with myself need to be made in advance as I have a lot of meetings and other activities to attend. There will be some times when you can just drop by these will be posted on the website and at the office. Watch for the open house in October.

Serving Kanata North

For the Kanata North Newsletter, to deal with a concern or make a suggestion contact me at City Hall at 613-580-2474 or by email Marianne.Wilkinson@ottawa.ca or through www.mariannewilkinson.com