Minutes
Date: June 10, 2023
Time: 1:00 am
Location: Molesworth Square - Collier St.
Agenda:
1. Welcome
2. Local Development Updates
3. CANA
4. Margaret's
5. Initiatives and Pilot Projects
6. Communications
7. Financials
8. Executive changes
9. Adjournment
1. Welcome
Ashleigh greeted members you attended the AGM and went over the Terms of Reference.
2. Local Development Updates
John Potter walked through news from the local sites currently under various stages of review, design and construction. In 2022, the community raised nearly $90,000, enabling community representatives to be at the table with the city and a local developer to voice our future vision for the community at a Provincial planning tribunal. Though we were not able to stop the tower, we did show remarkable cohesiveness as a community, demonstrating to City officials and local developers we have the capacity to organize and fight for the benefit of our community members - and our future. The greatest effect of this mobilization is that community representatives are being invited to discussions at the planning stage of many of the future developments happening in the area.
The following sites particularly impact the community.
717 Church (Capital Developments) - CANA board members are to be meeting with Capital Developments and the City Planner on June 21, 2023, to discuss the ongoing development process. CANA is expecting to hear confirmation that Collier St, west of Park, will be closed to through traffic, and incorporate a new public amenity space adjoining the western side of 717 site to Harold Town Park. We anticipate there will be community engagement on the design of the surrounding site and park redevelopment.
820 Church (The Hotel) - ACA representatives are hoping to influence the external veneer of the building, suggesting a brick, or brick-like cladding in lieu of precast concrete panels. We will also pressure the developer to include public amenity space on the ground floor, such as food or drink service.
830 Church (TTC/Car Wash) - John Potter and I, met with TTC officials who are part of the design and development team, working on the building that will accommodate emergency ventilation on the Yonge Bloor platform expansion project. This is the site of the former car wash. The new building will be smaller than the current car wash footprint, and there is opportunity for the community to drive the development of the remaining lands, which will publicly accessible. This space will be added into the ACA's Parks Revitalization Task Teams portfolio.
728 Church (Christadelphians) - We have heard from numerous sources the Christadelphians are keen to sell the property (adjacent to Margarets on the south-side of Church (at Asquith Ave.) This is a very difficult site to develop, constrained by a very small site and Margaret's as a neighbour. If it is unlikely to be developed as a condominium, who would be a likely buyer and what kind of new programming might fit in this space? A lot of unknowns remain.
3. CANA Update
The executive members of CANA have voted to wind down the corporation upon the return of all donated funds. Cheques will be signed on June 17th and disbursed back to community members shortly thereafter. The estimated remaining costs, including incorporation, taxes, printing, etc., are around $600.00. The ACA has voted to cover these costs for the executive members of CANA. CANA will provide the final amount to ACA for approval by the executive.
4. Margaret’s: 21 Park Road
John Potter and I met with Councillor Saxe in May to discuss Margaret’s and their impact on the community. I spoke to the organization having shifted services to providing less respite for 30 (the number of beds at 21 Park Road) and more about the distribution of nearly 300 meals daily to those outside (with no sign in/wrap around services). We spoke to the many negative externalities this is having on the surrounding community and the environment. Councillor Saxe is now advocating for the food program to end, and for Margaret's to refocus on the emergency shelter.
5. Initiatives and Pilot Projects
There are a variety of initiatives and pilot projects the ACA is undertaking this year. These include continued work on the Area Master Plan 2.0, Parks Action Team, the Canadian Tire fly-over, safer bike connections from Yonge and Davenport to Rosedale Valley Road, insect hotels, community compost, community gardening. Have an idea or want to participate? Contact John or Ashleigh directly.
6. Communications
The ACA website has been updated to a more streamlined version. We are hoping to have more community input through our blog. Our social events calendar and community resources are available too. Check out https://www.asquithcollier.com
7. Financials
Mike Bradley presented the financial report, detailing the income, expenses, and current balance of the association's account. The report was reviewed by the attendees.
8. Change in Executive
Changes are afoot in the ACA executive! We announced the following:
Our Communications Guru and ACORN Newsletter producer, Anne, has moved to greener pastures away from Asquith Avenue. We thank Anne for her colourful contributions and wish her well down south.
Our long-time Treasurer, Mike, has passed the numbers torch to Juanita Portela of 143 Collier St. Thank you to Mike for the many years of service. We look forward to your continued participation in local sporting events, including future Pickleball tournaments.
Finally, big thanks to our local authority on parking, Peter. Parking remains a hot-topic, and the executive has decided the parking position is the responsibility of more than one given the current parking climate. Look for future debate about evening visitor parking versus 24hr resident only parking.
As mentioned above, Juanita joins the ACA executive, bringing a background in finance and great garden design.
We also would like to extend a warm welcome to Liz who has graciously accepted her appointment, helping to communicate our ideas in a concise new form. We congratulate them both on their new roles.
9. The meeting was adjourned at noon.
The local street pot-luck party started at 1:00pm.
END of MINUTES.