Harbord Village Residents' Association

Minutes of HVRA Board Meeting

April 17, 2007

Kensington Gardens

Present: Gus Sinclair (chair), Tim Grant (minutes), Jane Auster, Leslie Thompson, Sue Dexter, David Booz, Richard Gilbert, Stuart Schoenfeld, Richard Longley, Margaret Beare and Jane Perdue.

Regrets:  Sandra DeAthe, Michael Heydon

1. Chair's Welcome: The meeting commenced at 7:00 p.m.

2. Agenda: The agenda was approved, with no additions.

3. Minutes: A motion to approve the minutes of our last meeting was moved by Margaret Beare, seconded by Richard Longley, and carried.

5. Business Arising - No items were raised.

6. Committee Reports

a. Environment

i. Trees Tim Grant
Tim reported that a funding application had been submitted to the Toronto Parks and Recreation Foundation for $1000 - $2500, with the Phoenix Community Works Foundation acting as our charitable "trustee". Another application was submitted a federal summer job program for students. We should receive their decisions by the end of April. Meanwhile a yellow flyer is being delivered to every HV home seeking volunteers and pledges of donations towards the $7000 cost of the tree inventory project. Margaret asked why we are doing an inventory of trees and where will the results of the inventory be archived?

ii. Solar David Booz

David is on CBC Radio tomorrow morning.  The next committee meeting is tomorrow night.  An RFP went out to about 30 solar companies and 10 bids were received by last Friday's deadline. A committee is evaluating the bids. Four public meetings are planned for May. David explained that in order to tap up to $2500 in funding from the Ontario Sustainable Energy Association for our meetings, that HVRA needs pay $35 for the Downtown West Solar Energy Project to join OSEA.   He proposed a motion that we pay the membership fee. It was seconded by Gus and passed unanimously.   Tim noted that Councillor Joe Pantalone had agreed to pay for the printing of 5,000 flyers.  It was also noted that the Annex Residents' Association had refused to endorse the project, citing numerous objections.

iii. Graffiti: Richard Longley and Jane Auster attended a national meeting of BIAs held here in Toronto that dealt with graffiti and other issues. Other speakers included Constable Scott Mills and a number of Toronto youth groups who told us about their legal mural-painting activities. Interesting also were the remarks of Michael Young of Ottawa who organizes ‘legal graffiti' walls that are repainted by local mural artists 2 or 3 times per summer. He looks forward with interest and apprehension to what might happen in 2008 when a new by-law aimed at total graffiti eradication comes into effect. Meanwhile, in Harbord Village, Jane and Richard hope to meet with Neil Wright soon about his proposed Harbord Street graffiti project.

b. Membership: Richard Gilbert distributed a revised membership form. A discussion ensued about whether to list possible interests or leave it open-ended, where residents would fill in their own interests. It was agreed that we only want one email address per member. We agreed to continue doing the latter and include clarifying note about one form per member.

c. College Street: Richard Gilbert reported that patio approvals this year have gotten worse. For example, one was approved 10 cm from a tree pit. The latest decisions lend credence to the suspicion that bribes may be involved. Patio spots seem to be grand-fathered, in defiance of the law. The committee is probably going to ask for licencing officials to be fired. Jane Perdue reported that Councillor Vaughan is holding a public meeting on April 30th about several matters including College Street patios between Spadina and Bathurst. "414" has a licence for the "Tiger Bar" at its rear, and is a big problem for its Lippincott neighbours. She fears that the meeting will cover too many topics to usefully address the particular problems of bars such as this.

7. a. Zoning: Sue reported that a Bloor Street Visioning meeting will take place on May 9th, including local residents & church groups, etc, from Avenue Road to Christie. After subsequent steering committee meetings, a public charette will be held on June 22-23. In response to a question from Richard G, she agreed that we don't have a position to present at that meeting.

b. Gus described the illegal extension at the back of 38 Brunswick. HVRA wrote a 2 page letter to the Committee of Adjustment. The owner called Gus late at night to object to HVRA's role and has since refused Adam Vaughan's suggestion of a meeting. She met planning staff and told them that she won't take down the illegal structure.

c. Sue reported that Adam Vaughan is developing a new planning protocol for the Ward. A meeting is planned for early May

a. Communications Richard Gilbert

 A draft version of the Spring Newsletter was circulated for corrections to be noted. Richard asked that board members email him any changes tonight as it will go to print tomorrow.  It is hoped that it will be delivered to every home 2 weeks before the Spring Meeting  on May 15th.

Spring Cleanup - Gus

Gus asked how many board members will be participating in the Cleanup this coming Saturday, April 21st. He has an adequate supply of bags, will drive his van around to collect full bags, and will ask the City to picking up those full bags late Saturday so they don't sit around in Margaret Fairley Parkette for a few days.

d. U of T Liaison

e. a. Sue reported on U of T correspondence about Huron-Sussex.The immediate threat by the university to sell the Huron-Sussex neighbourhood appears to have passed. Adam Vaughan has suggested a moratorium until the campus re-zoning process has been completed (which could take several years). So far, the university has not agreed.

Website

a. Gus asked everyone to visit the draft site and notify him of any changes that are needed, so that they can be inputted before Jason introduces the site at the AGM. Richard Gilbert is planning to add up to 100 photos to the website over time to enliven it.

b. Spring Meeting - Sue will lead a carbon reduction discussion, with a walk-through of a typical day, and invite people to offer suggestions about what we can do as a neighbourhood. If lots of suggestions are generated, we will try to form a committee to pursue some of those ideas. Gus, Tim and Sue will confer beforehand to refine our approach to this discussion.

The meeting adjourned at 8:50 p.m.  Next meeting: the Spring Meeting on May 15th at 7pm.