Dear Friends of Kingston Inner Harbour,
1) OFFICAL ANNOUNCEMENT:
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You are always free to unsubscribe at any time at the bottom of every news update.
2) LOTS ON THE GO IN THE INNER HARBOUR THIS SUMMER:
a) ON THE WALL Street Art Festival from Aug 18 – 24
Celebration of the Artists on Saturday, Aug 23
NEW TIMES:
Noon til 8 pm during the week for artists.
Saturday Celebration: 3-8 PM.
FACEBOOK PAGE: ON THE WALL for the most up-to-date information.
Looking for volunteers to help with priming the wall on Monday Aug 18 and Tuesday Aug 19 to help out the artists. Do contact us if you might be free to help out.
ALSO LOOKING FOR FUN AMAZING PERFORMERS WHO WILL ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION AT OUR CELEBRATION OF ARTISTS ON AUG 23. If you know of anyone interested in pop-up, flash-mob, dance , drumming, improve, all kinds of music, making stuff of all sorts, do contact us. Looking for really fun “OFF THE WALL” ideas. This promises to be a really amazing unusual day!
b) Caravan Stage will be performing in the Inner Harbour the evenings of Aug 15, 16 and 17 (Note date change to Friday, Saturday, Sunday) at the Woolen Mill. Audience on land. Performers on the barge. Should be awesome! More in the August update.
c) Spaces still available at Chaka’s free Zimbabwayan Sculpture camp for teens at the Woolen Mill
Aug 18-22. For more info and to register visit www.dandarocentre.com
d) Fun Family Friday Picnic in the Park events are happening every Friday this summer in Doug Fluhrer Park. Burgandy Dunn, in partnership with the Boys and Girls Club and the KFL&A Public Library (as well as with Barefoot Players and other groups) is planning wonderful fun family evenings. Last week it was a Bouncy Castle and Dragon boats. Every week is something different. Do come and join in. Every Friday evening from 4-6 pm.
Facebook page: Picnics in the Park
e) Trailhead’s Paddle and Pint every Wednesday evening .
Visit their webpage to register and for details.
3) A GREAT EXHIBIT “THE AGE OF SAIL” at the Marine Museum. See their webpage for details.
EVENTS ARE POSTED ON THE CALENDAR OF THE WEBPAGE: www.friendsofinnerharbour.com
If you have an event you would like posted, contact us.
4)KINGSTON’S WATERFRONT MASTER PLAN WORKING GROUP For your information, and to pass to others interested in the WFMP project, the presentation from the June 25th public meeting has been posted to the city website. Click Here, or below to view it.
Waterfront Master Plan
5)WILD MUSTARD IS A SCOURGE! Look it up online! It has a leaf like celery and is a light green colour like celery. It grows to 6 feet high. It has small yellow flowers and is extremely toxic. If it touches you, your skin will become so sensitive to sunlight that you will have to cover up totally when you go out in the sun. It is terrible. Look for it along the old K&P line and at Belle Island. Beware!
6) BAILEY BROOM COMPANY SUCCESS Thanks so very much to Laura Murray, Jennifer McKendry, John and Michael Sinclair of Living Rooms, Ric Barr of the National Grocer Building and everyone who signed and penned a letter to the Mayor and Council and Commissioners and CAO about the importance of saving this iconic landmark! At the emergency Council meeting called to address this problem, all but one councillor voted to halt demolition and try and find an amenable solution to making this building economically viable. To keep up with what’s happening here, visit the Facebook page: FRIENDS OF BAILEY BROOM FACTORY
7) 1BLOCK UP IS A NEIGHBOURHOOD BASED MOBILE, SOCIAL WEB-APP that is focused on making communities more sustainable by encouraging residents to complete sustainable activities and to work together. They have just launched and are working towards more activities for neighbourhoods and I would like to get your feedback. The app is free and secure and accessible on phones and desktops at www.1blockup.com
Part of their structure is that they give a portion of their revenues back to community groups in the neighbourhood where money is spent. For example, if residents buy their LED lights on-line through 1BlockUp they would donate 2% of that revenue to Friends of Kingston Inner Harbour. Have a look and see what you think.
8) VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY IN LOCAL FOOD.
The Memorial Centre Farmers’ Market has some gaps in the summer volunteer schedule they would like to fill – if you have 2 or 4 hours per month to spare in support of a more vibrant local food community?
Contact: mcfm.marketing@gmail.com
or call 613.583.2569
Shifts available:Sundays 7:30-9am, 9-11:30am, 11:30-2pm and 1:30-3pm OR
Casual door-to-door fliering in teams: anytime!
Their philosophy is *more* volunteers doing *less* hours equals *happy volunteers*! If you agree, get in touch! Help us make a difference!
9) FYI: THE FOLLOWING LETTER IS FROM A MEMBER OF A SISTER ORGANIZATION
OUR NEIGHBOURHOOD.
This group is extremely concerned about the lack of transparency of decisions made by City Staff. Information about Our Neighbourhood can be found on their website at www.ourneighbourhood.ca
The About Us tab lists their Board of Directors and explains the purpose of their organization. Sharon is one of their more active 150 members. They have recently done battle with the City over the Johnson Street Rezoning and are in the process of confirming a follow-up strategy and updating their website to reflect the final results of that Hearing and their intended Next Steps.
They have added a reference to the Friends of Kingston Inner Harbour under their Links tab as we are supportive of their primary objective which is advocating for City of Kingston planning processes to be appropriately transparent and involve stakeholders in a meaningful way. This is in keeping with our objective of educating the public.
Mr. Gerretsen and Mr. Hunt,
The Code of Conduct is very present and clearly available for the taxpayer to see with regard to her City Council. A similar guide is not available with regard to the Staff in the Planning Department who seem to be creating so much angst among Kingstonians : the Princess/Victoria Street Development; the Cataraqui Cemetery Development; the high density development proposals in Pittsburgh where constituents are up in arms; the Queen’s application for time extensions with regard to noise and neighbourhood peace; the OMB Hearings pertaining to both the Dragon Ho proposal and the Frontenac Street proposal – to name only a very few.
I suppose that a political reply would be that staff works at the direction of Council, but, of course, that does not answer the real question, does it?
The Planning Department of the City of Kingston is a mystery to many of us. Its structure changes, and we do not know what the changes are, and why or where they matter.
Rumours abound about new hires and reorganization. There is something circulating about the Heritage Committee being reduced in stature, which is astounding given the designation “historic” associated with this City, one of the oldest in Ontario.
Agreements passed by this City Council (for example, the Williamsville Main Street Study pursued in apparent good faith by City Hall and the residents of Areas 19 and 20) seem to be handled casually and, some would argue, carelessly, in terms of their interpretation and application with regard to amendments desired by various developers recently.
We need to know and understand this enclave of individuals in the Planning Department who are making deep and permanent marks (or scars) on the landscape of Kingston on our tax dollar. Who are these Staff who suggest to Council this or that? What are the guidelines under which Commissioners function? Who supervises the ethics of Staff? What happens when a Staff Member is in a conflict of interest situation? Why are long term Staff shifted away from portfolios that they have spent so much time on and therefore, presumably, know?
The key question is: how do Staff professionally balance their responsibilities to tax payers with the demands of clients seeking to be served?
What are the responsibilities and Code of Conduct for Staff in the Planning Department?
Many look forward to having these questions answered directly and fully.
Thank you
Sharon Deline
Hope to see you out in the park and along the trails this summer enjoying the lovely summer days, having picnics, walking dogs and contemplating what a treasure we have in our great Inner Harbour waterfront.
Cheers,
Mary