Dear Friends of Kingston Inner Harbour
1) Mayor on record stating no Wellington St. Extension through the park.
2) Opening the Passage between Belle Park and Belle Island as per Belle Island Accord
3) FKIH Webpage update and Facebook Page
4) RAW Design and th/e Repurposing of the Bailey Broom Company
5) 9 North St. update
6) Status of Legal Art Wall in Doug Fluhrer Park
7) Curious Removal of Cattails and Japanese Knotweed
8) Amazing 10 second audio of turtles communicating! A first!
9) Should Rivers have Rights?
10) Recreational Cycling Trails in and about Kingston
11) City links to road/traffic/snow removal/pedestrian information and issues.
12) New and Wonderful Turtle Partnerships and Activities
13) Upcoming Feature in Kingston Life
14) Fascinating article on possible Turtle Origins
15) All-Candidates Meetings for Mayor and Council organized by the Coalition of Kingston Communities
1) Mayor on record stating no Wellington St. Extension through the park.
https://m.facebook.com/story.
It has only taken ten years but, most definitely, better late than never! From the day my husband and I moved into Kingston and began walking and cycling along the Inner Harbour shoreline we have been convinced that the road was a dumb idea – especially as proposed through Doug Fluhrer Park, a downtown waterfront treasure. The long and broad list of activities we have been engaged in over the years to demonstrate the beauty and value of this park can be seen in the monthly updates on our webpage – www.friendsofinnerharbour.com.
Final decisions as to alternatives to the Wellington St. Extension are currently part of the North King’s Town detailed plan that is being put together and should be completed before Christmas. We remain cautiously optimistic that the entire WSE will meet its demise. More anon….
2) Opening the Passage between Belle Park and Belle Island as per Belle Island Accord
According to the city, they have their permits in place and are currently scheduled to remove the land bridges Sept 11-12. This signals the city fulfilling their obligations under the Belle Island Accord. Evidently a Drone is booked for both days. Should be interesting to see. The Belle Island Accord was reached in 2013 between Kingston and the Traditional Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs. Here is some of what was posted recently on the Caretakers of Belle Island Facebook page by Travis Canadien.
“3. The Mississauga of Alderville or Indigenous Communities may choose to ratify this Accord. Their ratification would connote their support for our work together.”
This Speaks to Our Work and the creation of the committee, “Caretakers of Belle Island”, to be the boots on the ground in the stewardship of The Ancestors Burial Grounds.
“4. We agree that the Island will be set apart as a place peace and refection, to be left, as much as possible, in its original state.”
I think this is one of the major reasons Kingston had a blind spot, in regards to providing protection and enforcing the existing ban on camping.
“6. d) The Parts of the Island that are being used as part of a golf course will be replanted with Indigenous plants and helped to regain their original natural state.”
This is in the Spirit of Caretakers work, in regards to, placing the Bee, Butterfly, and Birdhouses on the 4th Hole.
“7. b) Maintain such land use restrictions as will ensure the future protection of the Island and its natural and spiritual values…”
“10. We commit ourselves to be Stewards of the Island. As part of its Stewardship, Kingston shall retain responsibility for insurance, appropriate municipal services, and security…”
Crediting their Actions, Kingston has Stepped up in 2017, removing 16 campsites and working alongside Caretakers to remove 50 bags of garbage in the Fall, 66 bags in the 2018 Spring Cleaning, 22 bags on Earth Day as well as a shoreline cleanup of Belle Island.
All of us should be grateful to Travis Canadien and all the Caretakers of Belle Island for taking their stewardship role so seriously and for keeping us so well informed on this file.
3) FKIH Webpage Update and Facebook Page
Thanks so much to Claire Grady-Smith for her update of our page. We are still in the middle of adding some changes and new information but do have a look. www.friendsofinnerharbour.com
If you would like to submit some photos for us to include to get in touch.
Also thanks so much to Katie Walker for creating our new Facebook page over the summer and for adding updates for the coming year. It is mostly focused on our turtle work. Please like us!
https://www.facebook.com/
And, if you are interested in turtles, also have a look at Turtles Kingston, a wonderful sister organization – https://www.facebook.com/
4) RAW Design and the Repurposing of the Bailey Broom Company
Here is a very interesting recent piece in the Globe and Mail about the company.
https://www.theglobeandmail.
Evidently they are currently working with the Planning Department of the City of Kingston to iron out the details of their proposed repurposing of the Bailey Broom Company.
5) 9 North St. update
As you may have noticed, there has been a flurry of activity at the 9 North St. site (the old stone building behind Rideaucrest). ABNA Inc, the company of the Doornekamp family responsible for the wonderful work restoring the Woolen Mill, S&R and the Kensington Apartments (at the corner of Wellington and Brock) has been busy stabilizing the building. As far as we know, they have not yet applied to Planning for a permit to begin repurposing the building into apartments. If you would like to know a bit more about the fascinating history of this building, visit http://www.
6) Status of Legal Art Wall in Doug Fluhrer Park
As you may recall, the staff report to Council re the Legal Wall was supposed to happen this past spring. Staff has assured me that it will be forthcoming shortly. More anon…
7) Curious Removal of Cattails and Japanese Knotweed
a) We have been somewhat bewildered by the digging up and removal of some cattails in the water just west of the boat wreck along the shoreline south of the Woolen Mill. Utilities Kingston is looking into it.
b) There is a large stand of what we have been told is Japanese Knotweed (an invasive species) just north of the path
coming down into the park through the low-rental housing property. A few weeks ago a photo appeared on the McBurney Park Neighbourhood Association webpage showing a woman cutting down some of this invasive species. The photo produced some local outcry about singling out this woman. I believe the photo may have been removed. Since then more of the Knotweed has been cut. Public Works was notified about this issue in the spring.
8) Amazing 10 second audio of turtles communicating! A first!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/
9) Should Rivers have Rights?
https://e360.yale.edu/
10) Recreational Cycling Trails in and about Kingston
Our small recreational cycling group has an interesting collection of about 100 maps that we have been trying to get on the city’s webpage for five years – one way or another. Finally a breakthrough thanks to the wonderful Rob Kawamoto of VisitKingston. ca. According to Rob, a student will be hired over the fall/winter term to edit/sort/prioritize content, convert data to files in a consistent format and upload selected maps to the Visit Kingston webpage. Then arrangements will be made for appropriate links from the city’s webpage. Wonderful that cycling activities are now a part of VisitKingston’s suggested activities for tourists and citizens alike. Nice to be able to share Kingston’s wonderful cycling assets. Yey Rob!
https://www.visitkingston.ca/
11) City links to road/traffic/snow removal/pedestrian information and issues.
Thanks to our sister organization, the Williamsville Community Association, for drawing our attention to these links.
https://www.cityofkingston.ca/
https://www.cityofkingston.ca/
https://www.cityofkingston.ca/
https://www.cityofkingston.ca/
https://www.cityofkingston.ca/
12) New and Wonderful Turtle Partnerships and Activities
We are delighted to have made contact with a couple of turtle conservation groups: The Land Between and the Turtles Guardian Program. We have offered to be their Kingston/South-Eastern Ontario contact. We are very hopeful that they may be able to lend us a wet suit and an underwater GoPro this fall as we attempt to snorkel in the Great Cataraqui River to try and determine where the turtles may be choosing to hibernate.
And then there is also Turtles Kingston on Facebook. They have made a truly concerted effort this past summer to try and get the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests to insist that legal fishermen alter their nests in a manner that will prevent turtles dying as by-catch caught in their nets. Evidently the alterations required would reduce the fish catch by 30%. This past summer, several dead turtles, caught as by-catch, were just thrown away on the beach where John Counter Blvd. meets the Great Cataraqui River. Just so sad. Surely the Ministry has an obligation to protect these at-risk species!
13) Upcoming Feature in Kingston Life
Thanks so much to Kingston Life, Kirsteen MacLeod, and the Community Foundation for featuring our citizen-science work with turtles in an upcoming edition of Kingston Life.
14) Fascinating article on possible Turtle Origins
https://www.theglobeandmail.
15) All-Candidates Meetings for Mayor and Council organized by the Coalition of Kingston Communites
Sept 24, King’s Town District – Central Public School, 6:30 – 8:30, Moderator: Ian Wilson
Sept 25, Collins-Bayridge District – location, time, moderator TBD
Oct 1, Loyalist-Cataraqui District – Holsgrove School, 6-8 pm, Moderator: Peter Goheen
Oct 1, Kingscourt-Rideau District – Kingston Community Health Ctre, 6:30 – 8:30 pm, Moderator TBD
NOTE: This is for Rideau. Kingscourt Community Association will hold a separate one for Kingscourt.
Oct 2, Countryside District – Glenburnie School, 6:30 – 8:30 pm, Moderator: Steve Ward
Oct 3, Lakeside District – Henderson School, 6:30 – 8:30 pm, Moderator: Ted Hsu
Oct 4, Portsmouth District – Centennial School, 6:30 – 8:30 pm, Moderato: Jonathan Rose
Oct 9, Trillium District – Truedell School, 6-8 pm, Moderator: David Gordon
Oct 10, Williamsville District – Princess St. United Church, 7-9 pm, Moderator, John Clements
Oct 11, Mayoral Candidates – Memorial Hall, time TBD, Moderator: Bill Hutchins
Oct 12, Meadowbrook-Strathcona District – Lord Strathcona School, 6:30 – 8:30 pm, Moderator: Sally Ross
Sydenham District – STILL TO BE DECIDED
So that wraps it up for September.
It is so encouraging to see so many cars sporting the I Brake for Turtles signs.
I will be ordering more to give out. If you want one, do get in touch.
Cheers,
Mary Farrar,
President, Friends of Kingston Inner Harbour