The December FCA-FAC General Meeting will be held on Wednesday, December 13. It is earlier in the month due to the holidays. This will be a brief business meeting without a speaker. It is proposed that priorities for FCA in 2024 be a prime topic of discussion. A draft agenda for the meeting is found at https://fca-fac.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/231213DA.pdf
2. FCA-FAC wrote to Council expressing disappointment at the lack of public consultation when Council adopted a “walk-on motion” to increase height limits along minor corridors. Height had been established in the adoption of the Official Plan last year. The Ottawa Citizen published the letter at
https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/ottawa-city-council-asks-province-to-reinstate-nine-storey-building-heights-on-minor-corridors and it is also at https://fca-fac.ca/2023/12/fca-in-the-ottawa-citizen-on-minor-corridor-heights-topic/
3. Council’s motion on minor corridors appears to have been set aside by the Ontario Bill 150 which restores the Official Plan as originally adopted by Council last year. FCA-FAC issued a media release welcoming this development. See the document at https://g4t993.p3cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/2023Dec7-MR-Bill150-passage.pdf
4. FCA-FAC appeared before the Transit Commission budget meeting to ask for an OC Transpo fare freeze and no cuts in bus service in order to avoid further losses in transit ridership. This has been declining since 2011. The 2024 budget was finalized at the December 6 meeting of City Council with a 2.5% fare increase and a $9 million cut in bus service.
5. At the November 7 meeting of the City's Finance & Corporate Services Committee, a report on the Community Partnership Insurance Program (CPIP) was sent back to City staff for revision and consultation with the FCA and other community groups. This decision was stimulated by presentations by FCA representatives. The insurance issue will return to the February 2024 meeting of the City's Committee. The FCA Community Insurance Working Group has been meeting on this matter and expects that consultations with the City will be initiated now that budget discussions have been concluded.
6. At the last City Transportation Committee meeting, Councillors were told that proposals for new/enhanced Winter Maintenance Quality Standards would come forward in 2024. The FCA Transportation Committee recommends that the FCA advocate scope be provided to accommodate an enhancement of the City's Winter Maintenance Quality Standards, as per Council's direction in 2019.
7. Recruitment for members of a new Transit Advisory Working Group has been announced. Applications are requested by December 22. See details at https://ottawa.ca/en/city-hall/council-committees-and-boards/get-involved-local-government/join-committee-or-board#section-8d2457f3-f58b-41a5-86c2-66ef5e53bfb6
8. The FCA Transportation Committee intends to hold a workshop for FCA members next year on the City's new Transportation Master Plan, which is expected to be tabled in 2024.
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