Council Update, May 26, 2010: Rainer Bloess

Council Update, May 26, 2010

Your guide to what happened at City Council
May 26, 2010City Council Meeting HighlightsMayor O’Brien declares ‘Shades of Fun Day’ in Ottawa
Mayor Larry O’Brien declared Thursday, May 27, 2010 as CNIB Shades of Fun Day in the City of Ottawa.
As part of Vision Health Month in May, the Canadian National Institute for Blind (CNIB) is launching its first-ever nationwide Shades of Fun Day. The campaign encourages people to wear their favourite shades to protect their eyes from the sun and choose a fun fundraising activity to support the CNIB’s vital services for people with vision loss.
Three-quarters of vision loss is avoidable and research shows that only nine per cent of Canadians know that ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun can damage eyes and lead to long-term, irreversible vision loss. Sun damage is also a proven risk factor in cataracts and age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of vision loss in Canada. Eye doctors recommend wearing sunglasses with at least 99 per cent UV protection to avoid sun damage.
Mayor O’Brien presented Mike Nicholson, CNIB Associate Director for Services and Operations, with a framed proclamation of Shades of Fun Day at a ceremony during City Council’s May 26 meeting.
The CNIB is one of Canada’s oldest and most respected charities. Since it was founded in 1918, it has been dedicated to helping Canadians with vision loss. Today, it is Canada’s primary provider of vision support services and also works to safeguard the vision health of all Canadians.
There are 836,000 people in Canada living with significant vision loss and that number is expected to double over the next 25 years. The CNIB currently serves 3,500 clients in the City of Ottawa.
City waives development charges for Habitat for Humanity
Council has approved a deferral of $11,218 in development charges for a Habitat for Humanity site on Appleton Drive. Habitat for Humanity has built the house and is in the process of selling it to a family living below the poverty line (or below the Low Income Cut-Off, as established by Statistics Canada), adding to the City’s affordable housing supply.
The development charge requires repayment in the event that the unit does not remain affordable for a term of 20 years but will be forgiven if the unit remains affordable for the entire 20-year term.
Solar parks approved for Trail Road
City Council approved a motion allowing the City to enter into partnership with Energy Ottawa to construct two solar parks on lands near its municipal landfill site at Trail Road. The two ground-mounted solar photovoltaic fields could harness enough solar energy to power 1,500 homes annually.
The City is partnering with Energy Ottawa, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hydro Ottawa, given its role as the City’s preferred energy partner.
By feeding the energy back to the power grid, Energy Ottawa would be eligible for Feed-in-Tariffs (FIT) that provide stable, long-term revenues for the resulting green power under a guaranteed fixed-price 20-year contract.
The partnership with Energy Ottawa is a 20-year agreement that allows Energy Ottawa to lease lands near Trail Road for the solar parks. Energy Ottawa will design, construct, operate and maintain both sites. The City would receive a fixed payment of approximately $125,000 annually while Energy Ottawa would enter into a FIT contract with the Ontario Power Authority and retain revenues for its power generation. At the end of the 20-year deal, the City retains the rights to purchase the park, extend the agreement or decommission the site.
The solar energy park will be located on two parcels of land near the Trail Road Waste Facility. The first parcel is 4041 Moodie Drive, at the southeast corner of Moodie Drive and Barnsdale Road, which will be developed first. The second parcel of land is the former Nepean Landfill site on the southeast corner of Moodie Drive and Trail Road. The City requires formal approval from the Ministry of the Environment before building on the former Nepean Landfill site.
Subject to receiving the necessary approvals from the Ontario Power Authority under the FIT program, the first phase of the solar park could be operational by early 2012. The second site could begin operation in early 2013. When both sites are operational, the solar park will generate approximately 12 megawatts (MW) of peak energy.
The City has successfully partnered with Energy Ottawa on a number of energy initiatives, including the Building Energy Efficiency program and the Trail Road landfill-gas-to-energy project. To date, the Trail Road Project has generated 67 million kilowatt hours (kW/h) of renewable power and provided $315,000 in royalties to the City, in addition to a $2 million investment for upgrades to the existing landfill gas collection system.