Findlay Creek Community Association
2014 Annual Report
Presented at the AGM on October 15, 2014
Fred Barrett Arena
Board members
Returning:
George Barrett, Greenspace
Brad Nixon, Secretary and Roads/Transportation
Caroline Rohrig, Builder Relations
Linda West, Treasurer
New:
Zaynab Al-Hemed, Youth Coordinator
Edie Kelly, Membership Coordinator
Loreto Lamb, Volunteer Coordinator
Meagan Lydan, President
Jason Smith, Schools
Indira Thackorie, Events Coordinator
Stepped down:
Sumana Jana, Schools
Jeff McVeigh, Vice-president and Sponsorship
Rose Pigeon, Membership Coordinator
Eva Pigeon-Seguin, Co-president
Caroline Rohrig, Co-president
Vacant:
Vice-president
Sponsorship
Co-Events Coordinator
Membership
The 2014-2015 membership card came into effect August 1, 2014 and expires July 31, 2015. At the
end of July 31, 2014, we had 233 members. Currently we have 250 members. For the current
membership year, 22 retailers, called Membership Associates, offer preferred rates to cardholders.
Once again, as an incentive to become a member, Tosca Ristorante generously donated $25 gift cards
to the FCCA to be used in conjunction with the Community Fun Day. People who got or renewed their
membership, on or before that day, received a gift card.
Community partners, sponsors and membership associates
We renewed the existing agreements with the following community partners: Acceptable Storage,
Aesthetica Day Spa, Alliance Security Systems, Astra Motors Inc., Automatic Car and Truck Sales,
Canadian Tire, Jonny Canucks, Klukes, The McVeighs with Royal Lepage, Scotiabank, Tamarack
Homes, Tartan Homes, Taylor Group of Companies, Tiny Hoppers and Tosca Ristorante.
Claridge Homes and Lemay Homes became community partners this year.
These companies pay a yearly fee to be community partners. We greatly appreciate their support.
Target Golf is no longer a membership associate. Relaxation Station, OnesWorld Child Proofing, Merry
Maids and The Sweat Shoppe have signed on as membership associates to provide FCCA members a
discount.
There were no new sponsors this year.
Schools
ENGLISH PUBLIC
With the announcement of the closure of the Elizabeth Park Public School in 2017 the need to build a
school in Findlay Creek became all the more urgent. The FCCA, along with residents, have been
pressing the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board and Ontario's Ministry of Education to have the new
school built as soon as possible
Findlay Creek parents and residents attended OCDSB board meetings along with Trustee Mark Fisher
and presented Findlay Creek’s school business case in 2013 to ensure that FC school stays high in the
list in 2014.
The Capital Priorities list sent to the Ministry by the OCDSB in Fall 2013 ranked the Findlay Creek
school at #6 that was originally proposed at #3 when discussion began. When the Capitol Priorities list
was announced by the Ministry of Education in 2014, the FC school did not receive funding. There was
also no special emergency funding provided by the Ministry of Education as was suggested by the
board in a letter send with the list.
Parents and community members were understandably very disappointed and discouraged. They
reached out to Mark Fisher for advice on next steps. Mark was going to follow up with the Ministry of
Education to see if there was going to be an emergency funding assigned to the community.
There has been a lot of frustration from the community about the lack of transparency on the process
that the OCDSB follows on creating the Capitol Priorities list. Residents have sent their concerns to the
Ministry of Education and school board with no follow up.
$1.3 million in the OCDSB budget for 2014-15 has been secured to do all of the permitting and design
work for the new elementary school in Findlay Creek. Completing this work now will allow to break
ground quickly on the new school once funding from the province is announced (hopefully in February
2015).
ENGLISH CATHOLIC
As of October 2, 2014 there are 374 JK-6 Ottawa Catholic students residing in the Findlay Creek
Area. Of those, 330 JK-6 attend St. Thomas More. The 44 remaining students attend other Ottawa
Catholic Elementary Schools.
As a result of the implementation of Full Day Kindergarten, the Ministry Rated Capacities (MC), for the
schools, have been revised to reflect a loading of 26 for the JK/SK purpose built classrooms. St.
Thomas More's capacity was amended accordingly and is now rated at 507, with a current enrolment of
534, a utilization of 105%. There is now a portable at that school. If Findlay Creek students (330) were
removed from St. Thomas More their utilization would fall to under 50%.
As mentioned, the funds to build new schools are provided by the Ministry of Education. The Ministry
only accepts applications at certain times, not based on a pre-determined schedule. In order to apply
for funds to build schools, board must apply to the Ministry based on the Ministry’s requirements at the
time applications are being accepted from boards. Typically the application must address a variety of
factors, including the viability and efficiency of existing schools serving the community impacted and
show that a new school will have an 80% utilization for a 10-year period. With the current student
population, if a new school was built in Findlay Creek then St. Thomas More could drop to under 50%
utilization.
The OCSB recognizes that the Findlay Creek area is a developing community that will ultimately house
over 5,000 units. The Ministry does not provide funds to build schools based on future students, rather
based on current student population combined with projected student growth (among other factors).
The current OCSB trustee, Alison Baizana, has had various discussions with OCSB Planning senior
management and is confident that the situation in Findlay Creek is on everybody's radar, but at this
time, the Ministry of Education has not indicated they are considering any capital projects. Hopefully,
when the Ministry is accepting applications in the near future, the population in Findlay Creek will have
reached a point which meets the Ministry criteria to provide funding.
Greenspace
The winter of 2013-2014 kicked off with lots of snow to manage and some difficulty was had making a
base for Diamond Jubilee Park. Despite heavy snowfalls throughout the season, both Butterfly and
Diamond Jubilee Park were maintained extremely well, providing quality ice for skaters to enjoy. Seven
dedicated volunteers, headed by Robert Arnold were recognized with gift certificates (a small token of
our immense appreciation) for their ongoing effort to upkeep Diamond Jubilee rink. Two determined
volunteers were also recognized with gift certificates for maintaining Butterfly Park rink, which was led
by Don Cleary.
Concerning Diamond Jubilee rink, some maintenance was needed for the snow blower at the start of
the season, and routine purchases such as gas, oil and salt were made. During the season, the rink
was only closed for roughly 8 days, which is a sign of a well-cared-for ice surface. One difficulty of
maintaining the ice was due to a high volume of users during hours where volunteers were available to
flood. Volunteers tried their best to wake up extra early to get a flood on before public use and this was
well appreciated by all.
We continued to use our three benches for lacing skates; however, there was some shared concern on
lacing skates in a shelter such as a trailer instead of outside in the sometimes harsh winter
environment. The FCCA supported these viewpoints, but the City of Ottawa was not able to provide
added funding for the trailers to be on site. The FCCA looked into the idea of a trailer and funding it
independently, but deemed it unfeasible due to the high operational cost (which included the need for
supervision) and liability concerns. The FCCA is currently trying to find a way of providing shelter to the
rink users.
During the summer months, a high volume of public users were seen at Diamond Jubilee Park,
specifically for the splash pad. Parents and other park users communicated to the FCCA the need for
portable wash rooms and/or change room facilities that would allow for a longer and more comfortable
stay at the park. The FCCA looked into this, however, the City does not provide added funding for the
rental of a portable toilet in public parks and the FCCA was not able to absorb this high cost. Other
concerns were raised with respect to the portable toilet rental, such as public safety and liability, but
ultimately the decision not to go forward was due to a lack of available funds.
Another important development which relates to the needs mentioned above, is the future plan for
Diamond Jubilee Park. In short, there will a second phase to Diamond Jubilee Park which will include
tennis courts and more open recreational space. It has been communicated to us by the City that upon
completion of Phase 2, there will be a small community centre, which will include washrooms and a
possible space to tie skate or warm up in the winter. Unfortunately, the expansion of Diamond Jubilee
Park relies on Tartan and Tamarack development south towards Leitrim Road, which does not have a
specific time line. The FCCA hopes to obtain more information on this development in the coming year.
2014 also saw the introduction of two new parks in Findlay Creek (Creekview) and our neighboring
community Sundance (Littlerock Street), just east of Bank St. There was a public consultation for both
Creekview and Littlerock Parks, held by the City, which gave detailed information on the site plan. The
construction of Creekview Park has already begun.
The South Nation Conservation Authority was active this year in the community by holding a tree
giveaway event, which was well appreciated.
Lastly, the NCC unveiled a 'Master Plan' of Greenspace, which gave particular attention to the
protection of the provincially significant Leitrim Wetland and surrounding natural links to the Lester
Wetland. The plan included the addition of natural areas south of the airport. The NCC also hopes to
connect Leitrim Wetland to the Greenbelt Pathway, by introducing a network of trails.
Roads and Transportation
Roads
 The environmental assessment study for the widening of Bank Street was completed. The design
includes features lobbied for by the FCCA, including sidewalks, raised cycle tracks, and
improvements to the Bank & Leitrim intersection. Construction is scheduled between 2020 and 2025.
 Albion Road was re-constructed with paved shoulders. (Construction is to be complete by the end of
October). Leitrim Road between Bowesville and Albion was also re-constructed with paved
shoulders.
 The FCCA continues to lobby for further improvements, particularly paved shoulders on Conroy
Road.
 The FCCA is working with the traffic department on a 4-way stop at the intersection of Kelly Farm
Drive and White Alder Avenue.
 The FCCA is working on new northbound left-turn arrows at the intersections of Bank Street and
Findlay Creek Drive, and Albion Road and Leitrim Road.
Transit
 The FCCA was successful in improving the frequency of route 144 to South Keys to 15-minute rush
hour service at busy times.
 New paved waiting areas were installed at the bus stops and Findlay Creek & Kelly Farm. New bus
shelters are to be installed at Kelly Farm & Findlay Creek and Bank & Rotary this fall.
 The FCCA attended the first public consultation group meeting for the O-Train extension in July.
Construction for this extension is planned between 2018 and 2023.
Events and Activities
From October 2013 to August 2014, 18 Fab Findlay Facts, little-known community-related info tidbits,
were submitted to the FCCA by local author and Findlay Creek resident Randy Ray and shared on the
FCCA website and social media channels.
Our first ‘Best decorated house’ contest for Hallowe’en attracted one participant. They won a $50
VISA gift card.
Breakfast with Santa was held on December 8 in 2013. Tickets were free for members and $5 for
non-members. There were two sittings, 8 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. In addition to covering their cost of the
pancakes and sausages, the FCCA provided a $200 donation to the Gloucester Lions for their service.
CIBC provided coffee and FreshCo provided juice. Bulk Barn provided cookie decorating supplies, and
Tiny Hoppers reps assisted the kids in decorating their cookies. We sold tickets for prize draw which
raised $230.
The Community Fun Day was held on August 4, the Monday of the Civic Holiday weekend. We
estimate between 1200-1500 people came out, by far the most successful event ever held by the
FCCA. We did not receive civic event funding from the City of Ottawa this year.
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Community Partner The McVeighs, (Royal Lepage Performance Realty), in collaboration with
Jonny Canucks, provided burgers and hotdogs
W.O Stinson & Son provided the propane for the BBQ
Aesthetica Day Spa provided mini-manicures and mini-massages.
FreshCo and Shoppers Drug Mart provided beverages
Canadian Tire provided popsicles
South Nation Conservation hosted a craft table
Tiny Hoppers staff did facepainting
Local musician Spencer Scharf performed
Hot 89.9 sent a street team to play music and hand out swag
Taylor Group of Companies provided a self-serve candy bar
The FCCA paid for the services of Big Sky Ranch (animal display, pony rides) and Circus Delights
(inflatables)
SCDABE the Magician/Mentalist volunteered his entertainment services
The Community Garage Sale took place on June 7. Jeff and Kathy McVeigh went around the
community and provided refreshments to sellers and shoppers. For the first time, the FCCA rented a
street sign from Cheetah Signs to promote the event.
Online presence
We currently use four online tools to communicate information: our website (findlaycreek.ca), our social
media accounts, Twitter (@FindlaycreekCA) and Facebook, and through our general email updates.
The ‘Findlay Creek Community Association’ Facebook page has 715 likes, up from 557 last year at this
time. Our Twitter account now has 283 followers, up from 193 last year at this time.
We changed our website host this year. The FCCA website is now hosted and maintained by Steve
Strang, a Findlay Creek resident.
Community awareness, involvement and support
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Supported an item drive and fundraiser for the community residents that were affected by the
complex fire on Meadowlily.
Continued to advocate and follow up our letter of support for an extension of the O-Train to Leitrim.
Teamed up with South Nation Conservation and the RBC Blue Water Fund to clean up the creek
and surrounding area.
In the coming year
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We endeavour to develop guidelines as to the circumstances under which the FCCA donates
money to individuals within the community.
We endeavour to network with other community associations and participate in the Federation of
Citizens Associations of Ottawa
We endeavour to create a new communication strategy in order to increase community awareness
and involvement
We endeavor to develop a steering committee for the events portfolio