Greetings to all Springbank Hill residents!
I hope that you are enjoying the summer season as much as me and my family. With the relaxation of the COVID restrictions starting in July, we are slowly starting our return to a more normal life. We’ve even planned some travel later this year.
Our board of directors continues to hold our monthly board meetings throughout the summer season, with the ongoing use of virtual video meetings on Zoom, it allows us to remain productive while remaining at home. The summer season is usually the start of our annual business planning and budgeting sessions, as well as the close out of our accounting books for our August 31 year-end. We will be holding our annual general meeting of our members on October 27 and will share our financials as well as the plans for the coming year at that time.
At the time of writing this column, I was very pleased that the on-site construction of our community gardens was well underway and that we should be operational when you receive this newsletter. Check out the article on the community garden in this newsletter for more information. We do have rental opportunities for garden beds in 2021 and it’s not too early to plan ahead.
I wanted to take this opportunity to recognize two committees that work tirelessly on behalf of the community. The first is the Planning and Development committee. The objective of this committee is to advocate for our members and all residents of our community, and to help build a safe, active, and vibrant community. They work with developers and the city to encourage leading edge developments that are aligned with the vision of the MDP and the Springbank Hill ASP, supported by an achievable infrastructure plan, and respectful of the existing fabric of our community. It’s no small challenge to influence developments in favour of the community but the work of this committee does have a positive impact overall. The second committee deals with traffic related issues and has been very involved in working with the city, and province, on the ring road project in particular. The committee’s objective is to minimize negative impact on nearby residents. They also dealt with Enmax power line relocation decisions; and from a traffic perspective they have helped address the need for new four-way stops, crosswalks, and the installation of ‘iSlow’ signs to slow down traffic in problem areas. I want to take this opportunity to thank all volunteers who serve on these two committees. Your contributions have made a positive difference to our community.
On a final note, existing community association members are reminded that your 2020-2021 family membership expires on August 31, so please take the time to renew online if you haven’t done so already. And of course, we welcome new members; simply go to our website to purchase your membership. The price of our membership is unchanged at $25, and all money raised from membership sales helps fund our various community events and activities, such as those outlined above.
Stay safe and enjoy the remainder of the summer season,
Elio Cozzi
President, Springbank Hill Community Association
