KANATA NORTH NEWS Marianne Wilkinson Councillor, Kanata North

DOG STRANGLING VINE (Swallow-wort)

This plant is highly invasive. It will thrive in shade, sun and all soil conditions, spread rapidly, reduce or eliminate other plants, and is extremely difficult to control. If you see this plant in your garden, REMOVE IT IMMEDIATELY. You may not have heard about this invasive plant from Asia but it is rapidly invading our natural environment areas where it spreads and twines about anything and destroys the native plants. There is a very large area in Trillium Woods and unless it is removed in time the trilliums will be gone. Last Saturday I went with a small group that is working to remove the plants which will soon be sending out huge numbers of seeds. There will be a clearing bee on the weekend of Sept 1718th where youll be shown the plant (its easy to see now with lots of green seed pods) and be shown how to remove it. Consider doing this as part of your Fall Cleaning the Capital activities.

Meeting re 2009 Flooding

City staff will outline their recommendations for remedial work in the Beaverbrook Community at a meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 7th at 7 pm in the Mlacak Centre. If you have had basement flooding then I urge you to attend and provide your views on the suggested course of action.

Beaverbrook Lawn Lights

The globe lights in front of homes in Beaverbrook serve as our street lights so they are owned and maintained by the City of Ottawa. The light posts are in need of maintenance so the City will be undertaking a re-habilitation program in 2011 to start addressing that issue. There will be a field audit in early spring to identify the deficiencies with required repairs starting by early summer. Residents can help the City maintain uniform night-time visibility on our streets by maintaining the lawn lights on their front lawn with the existing globe-style fixtures. Report a defective or burnt-out light by calling 3-1-1, or call 613-580-2424 x23036 and leave a message or email streetlighting@ottawa.ca When Beaverbrook was developed in the former Township of March, the developer, William Teron, worked with Kanata Council to create a uniform look and feel for street lighting. The City is working with local community associations to maintain the standard globes we see in these communities. This will assist the City to provide quicker and more cost-efficient maintenance in effectively lighting the roads at night for public safety. The lawn lights are located within the municipal right of way. City policy outlines that property owners are not permitted to relocate or change them out. This policy was adopted following discussions with your Councillor, the Kanata Beaverbrook Community Association, the Program Manager of City Lighting and in consultation with an Ottawa architecture-lighting consultant. If you have any questions or concerns about the policy, please contact my office or call the Citys program manager for street lighting, Scott Edey at 613-580-2424, ext. 23197.

Update on Kanata Ave.

The Contractor has submitted their updated construction schedule and the drilling/blasting is scheduled to continue until September 13. This is a total of 24 days of drilling and blasting work for the section of Kanata Avenue between Richardson and Stikine. This is the best information that I have been able to obtain as the day by day schedule of operations is determined by the Contractor in determining the best way to carry out the work and as is impacted by weather conditions.

Serving the residents and businesses in Kanata North

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