Community Update for May 28, 2014

Dear Residents,

After the seemingly never-ending winter we endured, our neighbourhoods have finally come alive again with several events over this past month. Since the beginning of May, I've enjoyed seeing so many of you at countless community fun fairs, fundraisers and activities in every corner of our Ward 22 community including:

·         Davisville Village Farmer's Market at June Rowlands (Davisville) Park

·         Beltline Cleanup

·         Brown Public School Garden Fête fundraiser

·         Doors Open Walking Tour

·         Eglinton Way BIA Social

·         Forest Hill Homeowners' Association AGM

·         Jane's Walk

·         Meals on Wheels outreach

·         Oriole Park Community Garden Opening

·         Oriole Park Public School Parents' Night Out fundraiser

·         Rathnelly Area Residents' Association AGM

·         Sharon, Lois & Bram Playground Naming Ceremony and concert

·         South Eglinton Residents' and Ratepayers' Association AGM

·         YWCA Women of Distinction Awards

A special thanks to all the parent and resident volunteers whose hard work makes these community-building events and fundraisers possible. June will also be a very busy month and I look forward to seeing you at one of the many Midtown events, including:

·         My Community Environment Day at Eglinton Park

·         Deer Park Residents' Group AGM

·         Forest Hill Jr/Sr Fun Fair

·         Glebe Manor Square East park public meeting

·         Relief Subway Line Public Information Meeting

·         School graduations

·         St. Clair West Planning Study Public Meeting

(See some dates and locations below in this e-newsletter)

These events are not only a wonderful chance to meet my neighbours but a great opportunity to receive feedback, suggestions and new ideas. Please always feel welcome to share your thoughts with me.

You're Invited to a Public Meeting on the Relief Subway Line!

The City of Toronto and the TTC are starting to plan for a Relief Subway Line. Please join me and City experts to discuss possible route alignments, how this project could help ease congestion on the overburdened Yonge-University-Spadina subway line and more.

Please click here for the invitation and here to learn more about the Relief Subway Line – Toronto's top transit priority.

REMINDER: Councillor Josh Matlow's Community Environment Day

On Thursday, May 29 from 4 pm to 8pm, I will be hosting my annual Community Environment Day. The event will take place in the parking lot of North Toronto Memorial Arena at 174 Orchard View Blvd. Please drop off any unwanted art supplies, books, toys, and used sports equipment. Facilities will be available to dispose of computers and other hazardous household waste, or even replace your damaged green bin.

Reducing the Cost of Paid-Duty Police Officers

As a member of the Council's Audit Committee, I set a process in motion to reduce the number of paid-duty police officers the City needs to hire at construction and work sites.

I, along with many residents, find it frustrating and wrong to see uniformed police officers standing by work sites while other budgets to important City services are being cut.

At Audit Committee today, my colleagues adopted my motion that requests the province to follow Vancouver's lead by ensuring that lower-paid enforcement officials are monitoring construction sites. If permitted, this initiative will save the City of Toronto, businesses and community organizations millions of dollars while ensuring that the police are focused on what they're best at - serving and protecting us.

For more information please see this article.

Community Opposes Completely Inappropriate Development

Earlier this month I co-hosted a public meeting with City Planning regarding 33 Holly Street and 44 Dunfield Avenue. I was joined by the many residents in attendance in condemning this proposal.

This is the most egregious infill application I have seen since becoming your Councillor. The developer is proposing to build two condo towers, at 32 and 24 storeys, on a site that already has two large "slab" apartment buildings. If built, pedestrians would face a continuous and imposing wall along both Holly and Dunfield. In addition, the plan envisions placing an extra 5 storeys on "stilts" above each of the existing apartments. To make matters worse, new amenity spaces are proposed for the top of each of the existing apartment buildings that will be off-limits to the tenants below.

The local planner and myself have told the developer that drastic revisions are necessary. If a more reasonable proposal is not submitted, I will aggressively oppose this development at Council and, if need be, the Ontario Municipal Board.

For more information please see this article.

Documentary Screening: Cyber-Seniors

On Friday, May 30th, the new documentary Cyber-Seniors will be premiering at the Carlton Theatre. Directed by Toronto's Saffrom Cassaday, Cyber-Seniors has been described as a "humorous and heartwarming documentary." The film chronicles the journey of a group of older adults as they discover the world of the internet through the mentorship of teenagers. The film's goal is to raise awareness of the digital divide currently facing older adults, and inspire a call to action for local tech-savvy youth to give back to their community.

Screenings will take place at the Carlton Theatre (20 Carlton St., just east of Yonge) at 2 pm, 4 pm, 7 pm & 9 pm daily from May 30 to June 5. Q and A and contest draws will take place at the Friday 7 pm screening and the Saturday 2 and 7 pm screenings.

Spadina Museum Launches New Historic Landscape Tour and Owlery

Spadina Museum will be opening a new self-guided landscape tour which includes historical facts and images relating to local history. Its official launch will feature reproduction owlery by Alex Moyle and live owls to meet, provided by Mountsberg Conservation.

The event will be hosted from 1 to 3 pm, on Saturday, May 31, and all admission to the grounds are free.

Seniors Month at Nathan Phillips Square

In celebration of Seniors Month, the Toronto Seniors Forum is hosting an event on Tuesday, June 3 from 11 am to 2 pm at Nathan Phillips Square. Join us to learn more about seniors' services in Toronto and the City of Toronto's Seniors Strategy. There will also be live entertainment and an opportunity for networking.

Lead in Drinking Water Update

Last week, following a story published by the Toronto Star, I heard from many concerned residents regarding lead in drinking water. I've been advised by Toronto Water staff that lead does not exist in Toronto's source water, Lake Ontario, or in the City's drinking water distribution system. Rather, lead is a concern for homes built before the mid-1950s when residential water service pipes were commonly made of lead. As these pipes corrode or break down, lead can enter drinking water.

If you live in a home built before the mid-1950s, the City offers free lead testing. You can call 311 to pre-register for a water testing kit. For more information, please visit the Toronto Water website.

For ongoing council and community news, my contact information, along with a calendar of events, please visit www.joshmatlow.ca. Click here to read my previous community updates.