Author: opsfr

Orchard Park Sherwood Forest Neighbourhood Association is a London, Ontario, Canada based neighbourhood organization serving the Orchard Park and Sherwood Forest areas of London. The area is approximately bounded on the west by Wonderland Road, Sarnia Road on the South, Gainsborough Road to the North, the University of Western Ontario and the Medway Valley.

Update on Sherwood Forest P.S.

An update on Sherwood Forest Public School from Sandy Levin:

Next week, Tuesday June 28th, the school board Trustees are scheduled to vote on the staff recommendation to combine the student bodies at Orchard Park P.S. and to close (effective June 30, 2013) and declare Sherwood Forest P.S. (and property) surplus to the Board’s needs. If passed, this will result in the initiation of a process by which the Sherwood Forest site can be sold. Normally the Board does not begin the process of offering the property until after the school closes, however, there is no reason that they cannot.

Having reviewed the comments senior administration made in response to the community’s submissions to the Trustees in May, (you can see all of the community presentations on the webcast of the May 24th meeting starting about 45 minutes into the webcast), I am not hopeful that the Trustees, even our own trustees, will vary the recommendation in any way. You can view the webcast of the May 24th and June 14th Board meetings by going to http://www.tvdsb.ca/videos.cfm?channelID=11&categoryID=16 and clicking on June 14th Board meeting. The portion of the June 14th meeting dealing with our two schools starts 74 minutes and 38 seconds into the webcast.

To summarize the comments by the Administration made on June 14th:

– there is no information on turnover of properties in the area
– there has been a decline of 1045 in the age 0-19 group between the 1996 and 2006 census in the Medway Planning Area (which includes our area as well as Whitehills and University Hts)
– K to 8 schools provide positive programming and staffing advantages (there was no reference to the very interesting research article one of the community speakers raised in her presentation at the May meeting in support of K to 6 schools).
– The Board did not start the ARC before having a policy for ARCs in place.
– There is no Ministry policy regarding there being an Administrative recommendation at the start of an ARC. This Board prefers to have its recommendation up front so that it is not accused of hiding its position.
– The Board and City are only starting to talk about common issues regarding school sites, but nothing will happen until the fall.
– it would cost $19,000/year to “hibernate” the Sherwood Forest P.S. site if it was closed but not sold (heat, snow removal, grass cutting, insurance)
– the Board has not kept a closed school – it has always either declared it surplus or changed it to other use such as French Immersion
– Not declaring Sherwood Forest P.S. surplus would mean a lost opportunity to generate revenue to be used for capital improvements to other schools

I found it most interesting that no trustees asked any questions after this presentation by its Administration, nor was there any additional information given or asked regarding the Orchard Park P.S. gym.

I still hope you can join me at the meeting at the Board office, 1250 Dundas Street East on June 28th at 7 pm to watch the proceedings. The agenda is usually posted on the Monday before the meeting and you can judge roughly when the discussion on the schools will take place (it won’t be right at 7 pm!). http://www.tvdsb.ca/board.cfm?subpage=113288

There is still an opportunity to write the Trustees. E-mail addresses and phone numbers can be found at http://www.tvdsb.ca/board.cfm?subpage=79700

In the meantime, I have begun to make inquires to see if we can find a way to acquire the site or find a new tenant who might use the space (hopefully one the school board would agree to). It is a long shot. If you have any suggestions of who I can contact, please let me know.

ARC – Update on School Board Meeting

The meeting at the Board of Education on May 24th went well. Those who presented did a great job of letting the trustees know the importance of the schools to our neighbourhood. People spoke strongly about the importance of the green space and making sure Orchard Park P.S. is ready for new students, particularly in getting a better gym. Thanks to everyone who spoke at the meeting and to those who attended.

The Trustees asked a number of questions and the Board Administration was tasked with providing some answers prior to the Board’s June 28th meeting when the Trustees are scheduled to vote on this matter.

At this point, it is anticipated that the Administration will continue to recommend Sherwood Forest P.S. be closed and the site declared surplus. It is up to the Trustees though and hopefully, letters to them and being in the gallery on the 28th will have an impact.

If you have any additional questions please feel free to contact Sandy Levin s.levin@sympatico.ca

Neighbourhood Questions regarding the New Brescia Residence

Brescia University College has provided some q&a regarding its plans for construction of a new residence. This is a follow-up and response to the neighborhood meeting that was held on March 10, 2011.

Bike path

Q. A number of people currently bike through Brescia to work at UWO. The idea of a bike path that goes around the campus was not well received for a few reasons. One is that it is an indirect path and bike riders, like drivers, will take the path of least resistance. A round about way is less likely to be used. Also, like the staff member who was concerned about the out of the way location of the potential “north side” parking lot, the bike path will also be out of the way which makes it less likely to be used later at night. The other concern is that it seems that bike riders would share the new driveway with delivery trucks in the morning. This may not be the case but I and others at the information session were trying to explain where the bike path started, without the benefit of any visuals. You might consider stopping some bike riders in the fall to invite them to a focus group to get their thoughts. Ramsay Road is a well used bike way in the AM rush hour between September and winter and again in the spring.

A. Responsibility to maintain a bike path for neighbourhood use goes beyond Brescia’s mandate but we will do our best to do so to be good neighbours. However, having a focus group to provide additional input would provide real challenges to us from a timing perspective in regards to completing the design. We did pay careful attention to neighbourhood input at our meeting on May 9th. Although the north route is more out of the way, it would certainly be safer from a grading perspective than what is happening now. We are also looking at the possibility of relocating a bike path around Mother St. James, but I think that this might actually be farther, more costly, and a steeper grade. There will only be five or six trucks per day that would be using the same space.

Location of new buildings/parking lot

Q. Due to the loss of trees/green area as well as the massing of buildings along Ramsay Road, residents asked Brescia to consider retaining the existing parking lot and putting the new residence further to the north. This could avoid the need for a rezoning. Another site plan suggestion was putting the dining pavilion on the far west side of the campus and the residence more to the east. This would reduce the distance from the loading area as well as avoiding the massing of a large building on a narrow street. Another suggestion was enlarging the lower parking lot and making the new, larger lot on the east side of Brescia Lane exclusively for those with mobility difficulties. This recognizes the need for a more level site for parking and continuing the buffering between Brescia and the homes on the south side of Ramsay Road.

A. We have gone through careful deliberation about the placement of the buildings for the new residence and dining complex. Of highest concern, in our decision making, has been the cohesiveness of the campus and access for students, the main users of the building and dining hall complex. There isn’t enough space to put the residence further north (due to grades, services, and cost) and we could not have developed the courtyards that we currently have in the present scheme. The dining pavilion is located centrally to provide access to all students/ staff. Placing it further west would isolate it and really just replicate the issue that we have now with our dining room situated in the basement and not very accessible. We are enlarging the lower lot, and the lot to the east of Brescia Lane has been maximized with regard to flat area available. Also, the building will be well set back from Ramsay Road, reducing the impact of massing of the building.

Access to new driveway/loading area

Q. Given how narrow Ramsay Road is, some residents thought it would be difficult for the city to agree to restricting turns in and out of the new driveway as food and beverage delivery trucks may have problems getting in and out of the driveway, particularly in winter, if turn movements are restricted. This also raised the question about how trucks would get out of the driveway – would they be backing up? This would increase the concern that the bike riders have about sharing the road in that location.

A. Trucks will not be backing out of the driveway. Rather they will back into the loading dock and drive out onto Ramsay in the forward direction. We can handle all turning radii on site, so that a left only onto Ramsay is possible.

Trees

Q. One of the people at the meeting went to count the trees on the south side of Ramsay where there are 15 trees. He asked, as Brescia promised two trees would be planted for every one cut, where will the 30 or so replacement trees be planted?

Who at Brescia is in charge of tagging trees with silver tags. Some of the trees are being questioned. They may or may not all be Brescia trees.

A. The landscape architect identified the trees to be tagged so that we could be sure that we identified significant trees. Trees that are not Brescia trees should not be tagged but it is possible that some might have been inadvertently tagged. We will not, however, be removing any trees that do not belong to us. It is too early to identify exactly where new trees will be planted.

Update on Sherwood Forest School

The Thames Valley Public School Board will hear public input on the Sherwood Forest ARC at its meeting on Tuesday, May 24, 2011.

To speak at the meeting of May 24th, you must submit a form to the Board offices. The required form can be found at http://www.tvdsb.ca/files/78949/presenters_package_feb2011.pdf

The deadline for submitting this form to speak at the May 24 meeting is Friday, May 13.

If you can attend this meeting, it will be important whether or not you choose to speak, as the Trustees note if there is community interest by counting heads in the gallery.

If you wish to contact the Trustee’s directly, their contact information can be found at http://www.tvdsb.ca/board.cfm?subpage=79700