My name is Leonard Poole, and it has been my pleasure to serve as President of the Board of Directors of your Community Council for the past year.  I would first like to introduce you to the board members who have served your community for the past year.

The executive members are:
Robert Landry, Vice President
Peter MacFarlane, Secretary
Chris Ellis, Treasurer
The remaining board members are:
Abdi Abdishakur,
Bernadette Emond,
Rosemarie MacFarlane,
Ted McCadden
Hellmut Schade

Each of these individuals have contributed of their time and energy to their community over the past year and their efforts are truly appreciated.  I would, however, like to take a moment to recognize two of our board members who, after years of service, have decided to step down from the board, although they remain active and strong supporters of our community and our organization.  First, Rosemarie MacFarlane, our immediate past President.  Rosemarie has been an energetic participant in so many ways.  She has spearheaded fundraising over the past two years, by getting us out to sell hot dogs at Loblaws on a few occasions.  Concerned about her community, she has never been shy to voice her opinion, and work for the betterment of Overbrook.  Peter MacFarlane, our Secretary, has also announced his intention to step down this year.  Peter’s organizational skills have been of immense support to our organization, and me personally in my role as President over the past year.  I don’t know how I would have done it without him.  To each of you, I say thank you.  You will be missed.

I would also like to recognize the participation of Councillor Jacques Legendre who has been a regular attendee of our meetings and has been a strong supporter of our team.

As President of the Community Council of Overbrook I am pleased to report on the variety of issues that we addressed in the past year.  As with all parts of the city, our community is faced with intensification of development within our borders.  Every one of our monthly meetings was taken up with some aspect of this issue.

A public meeting was held in April to discuss the impact of plans to modify the Vanier Parkway/Coventry Road intersection.  We strongly urged the City to use publicly owned land adjacent to the RCMP to expand the intersection, rather than move traffic closer to residents on the east side of the Parkway.

By making a presentation to the Transportation Committee regarding a pedestrian link between the City owned stadium and the Via Rail/Octranspo station we were successful in having it included in the Transportation Master Plan.

Housing developments on former school properties were discussed and lively debates ensued.  We met with CounterPoint Academy, the new tenants of the former King George Public School property, to discuss ways to ease traffic concerns.

We met with a representative from the Coventry Road Canadian Tire Store to discuss their plans for expanding their business to include a gas bar and car wash.

Your Council made a presentation to Planning Committee to have them consider pedestrian concerns versus truck traffic on St. Laurent Blvd. Although we did not secure the vote we wanted on this particular issue I firmly believe that through our intervention we have raised the profile of the Overbrook Community on this committee.

It is apparent to me that each of the above items touches on some aspect of intensification of development within our community.  I believe that the challenge of our community is to find the balance between the need for development and how it affects our quality of life.  As a city, Ottawa cannot afford to continually expand outward.  However, unrestrained, haphazard intensification of development within our borders is a recipe for urban disaster.  By continuing to raise the profile of our community of Overbrook with City staff, politicians and private developers, we can work toward ensuring that development within Overbrook will enhance, not detract from our quality of life. 

We have made considerable progress in the past year in raising our community profile.   We are seen more as a community that intends to have its voice heard.  To continue, though, we will always need input from the broadest possible cross-section of our community.  It is important that we all have the opportunity not only to speak out, but also to listen, and listen intently to what other members of our community are saying, and what they are concerned about.  To re-state a phrase I heard many years ago, “Many hands make light work.”  The more of us that participate in improving our community, the better it will be.  I encourage you to listen to your neighbours, get your voice heard, and participate.  Be it on the Board, as a committee member, or to participate in one of our monthly meetings, you can and do make a difference.

To demonstrate just how community input has made a difference, I would now like to turn this meeting over to members of our various committees, who really have put in extra effort to improve their community.