Attendance: Dick & Florence Watts, Wendy Fletcher, Mike Hussey, Mike Foderick, David Shanoff, Jeri Brodie, Richard Cavanaugh, David Raymont, Linda DeGiorgio, Anita Kung.

1. Heritage/History
   1. Library murals – the scaffolding is being put in place for the restoration which is scheduled to begin next week.
      
      
   2. Regal Road School Portico – Harry Lay is continuing to follow-up on a regular basis and to urge the School Board engineer to obtain information on restoration costs and timing of possible restoration work.
   
   
2. Street Beautification
   1. Litter Clean-up Day, Saturday April 24th – John Keating and Susan Noakes are co-ordinating the clean up for Regal Heights area. The clean up will begin at 10 am from the parking lot of O.C.I. Bags and gloves will be supplied. Participants can enter a draw for an RHRA T-shirt and hat.
      
      
   2. Graffiti clean-up – mailboxes in this neighbourhood are being covered in graffiti. More volunteers are needed to adopt a mailbox for graffiti removal, especially boxes east of Oakwood. Contact Florence if you want to adopt a box. Mike Foderick will approach the city about cleaning the markings on the seating wall at Oakwood and Rosemount. Florence will contact Tony Kerins about graffiti on the OCI playing field retaining wall.
      
      
   3. Tree trimming, Springmount Ave and Glenhome steps – the trimming that the city has agreed to do in this area has not yet started. Dick is aware of the locations and requirements for each location. Hopefully he will be contacted before they begin so he can share information with them.
      
      Wendy shared with the group her experience after a city tree was blown down onto her house. It is considered an act of God and the city will not compensate citizens for damage to their property. She advises that everyone should be proactive in calling the city for inspection and trimming of your trees if you have concerns. It takes a minimum of 3 weeks to get an inspection and a 1 year wait for trimming to be done.
      
      
   4. Rosemount gardens - Florence will request Tony Kerins to have the water supply for the Rosemount gardens turned on. It was agreed to provide Wendy with up to $100 to purchase 3 soaker hoses for the watering of the gardens.
      
      
   5. Spring planting – 10 flats of pansies from Brian Green are expected this week. Many thanks to those who helped clean up Daffodil Hill. It looks wonderful with the daffodils presently in bloom. Florence raised the idea of somehow making our community gardening efforts known to others . Mike F. will approach the Guardian paper to see if they might be interested in writing it up as a local story. Wendy and Florence will explore the idea of holding some kind of photography contest that would promote the beautification of our neighbourhood.
   
   
3. St.Clair Transit Study
   1. Discussion of recent events and issues – The following points were made: At a meeting in JJP Centre on April 17, John Sewell commented that some 30 years ago there were10 more streetcars run per day on St. Clair than are run today. With more people to transport, it is interesting that we should be considering a DROW and possibly reducing the number of streetcars running on St.Clair. The width of Spadina is not comparable to the width of St. Clair. Trying to compare the two is like trying to compare apples with oranges.
      
      
   2. RHRA survey – The survey was done partly to impart information about the project as well as to stimulate people to think about what and where they stand on the issues. Mike Hussey was commended for his initiative in preparing the survey. Survey printing costs of about $40 were approved. Some results of the survey are given below.
      
      RHRA Transit Survey, April 2004
      SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS
      prepared by Dick Watts, April 19,2004

      A survey questionnaire was delivered during the week of April 7 to the homes of 122 families who have been RHRA members for at least one of the past three years. 42 completed forms were returned by the cut-off date, (34% response). Here is a summary of some of the main features of the survey results.

      98% of respondents believe public transit use should be encouraged.
      
      98% of respondents prefer to ride on a subway or streetcar rather than on a bus.
      
      77% are opposed to an exclusive streetcar right-of-way (DROW).
      
      76% believe a DROW would cause traffic congestion that would spill over into residential areas.
      
      

      There is divided opinion on whether a DROW should be established only at locations where traffic is causing excessive delays. And there is divided opinion on whether a DROW should be established at rush hours only.

      57% think some degree of priority should be given to streetcars, but only at traffic clogged locations.
      
      71 % believe streetcar conductors should have special control of left-turn traffic signals in order to "flush out" left-turners impeding streetcars.
      
      74% believe the recurring traffic bottleneck at Vaughan Rd. and St.Clair is an urgent problem that needs to be solved.
      
      76% want traffic lights with left-turn signals at Alberta and St.Clair.
      
      26% of respondents almost always use the TTC for local travel,
      
      33% almost always use a car or taxi,
      
      31% use TTC and car equally,
      
      10% use other means for local travel.
      
      
   3. Future workshops and public meetings – Dick, Mike H.and John Keating will attend the EA Workshop on May 11th to discuss alternative design concepts. Public meetings on alternative design concepts will be on May 25th at Holy Rosary Parish Hall, and on May 27th at JJP Centre.
   
   
4. Schools
   1. Oakwood Collegiate gardens – Linda and Florence have met with Jennifer Gordon, Chair of O.C.I. environment committee and Marla Percy, staff representative, to discuss the possibility of starting a garden to flank the entrance doors facing St. Clair Avenue. A draft plan has been drawn; now they will jointly seek grant money to purchase plants. The proposal is to complete the garden for the 100th anniversary of the school in 2007. Some concern was expressed over the idea of putting so much work into an entrance that seems little used. The difficulty of maintenance of the gardens was also raised.
      
      
   2. Regal Road School gardens – a teaching garden to be located in the primary playground has the approval and support of the School Board. Fencing around the proposed garden needs to be erected before the planting begins. The Ascot Daycare will be included in this project and will assist in the maintenance of the gardens as they operate in the school year 'round. A redbud tree will be planted on the front lawn on Friday April 23. Charles Caccia, MP, has donated 25 black spruce seedlings for the school gardens.
      
      
   3. Alpine Roofing signs on school fencing – all but two signs have been removed. Dick will assist Brian Faughnan in the removal of them.
      
      
   4. Regal Road School Fun Fair May 27th – the annual school fair is in the planning stages. Items for the silent auction are being sought. Donations of items with a retail value of $100 would be appreciated.
   
   
5. Planning/Zoning/City Policies
   1. 41 Rosemount – an application to build a house on the lot was approved April 20 by the Committee of Adjustment, despite local concerns that the life of two mature trees would be shortened due to root damage and reduced natural water supply.
      
      
   2. 77 Oakwood – on Easter Monday, the new owner removed the beautiful garden and three large trees . This has resulted in a severe loss of ambiance on the street. City forestry officials are determining whether any city policies have been violated.
      
      
   3. Community Council boundaries – it has been confirmed that Regal Heights is now a part of the Humber-York Community Council Area rather than the Toronto-East York Area. Mike Foderick will keep us informed regarding where Community Council meetings will be held on matters affecting Regal Heights.
   
   
6. Street Renaming update
   The process of possible renaming of Springmount and Rosemount is continuing. Wendy will attend meetings on this issue and keep us informed. Final decisions are not expected until 2006.
   
   
7. RHRA Annual Meeting, May 18th, Oakwood Collegiate 7 – 9 30 pm.
   Refreshments and annual memberships will again be offered. T-shirts and copies of our local history book will be on sale. Displays of alternative TTC plans, a large drawing of St.Clair Avenue may be displayed along with the RHRA transit survey results.
   
   
8. Privacy Policy
   David S. presented a draft policy statement on how we should deal with information we receive from members (eg. names, addresses, phone no's. etc). The policy responds to the Personal Information Protection and Electronics Documents Act (PIPEDA) . David was appointed as our Privacy Officer. Suggested changes to the policy are to be submitted to David by April 23. The policy will be presented at the annual meeting.
   
   
9. Treasurer’s Report
   We have about $450 remaining in the bank plus $300 in trust for Library Mural Project fundraising.
   
   
10. Other
    1. Membership drive and payments – Jeri B. will speak to this issue at the annual meeting.
    2. Community garden signs – we would like to produce some kind of signage to mark our gardens. We need to determine the wording for the signs, where we can get signs made, and costs.