Present: Amy Bodman, Brent Calhoun, Richard Cavanagh, Rosa Cordiano, Mike Foderick (assistant to Councillor Palacio), Anita Kung, Harry Lay, Beth Marcilio, Peter Norman, David Shanoff, Dick & Florence Watts

Regrets: Linda DeGiorgio, David Raymont

1. Heritage & History
   1. "St Clair West in Pictures" reprinting – the Toronto Public Library (TPL) has reported that they are unable to fund a reprinting. Money would need to be raised locally to front-end the cost. Dick proposed that RHRA pre-order 100 books and encourage several other groups to do the same. He proposed that $500 from the RHRA Heritage Fund be used for this purpose. The meeting unanimously approved this approach. Dick and Tony Bolla will meet library officials in the near future to discuss methods of financing the reprinting.
   2. Naming of Program Room at Dufferin/St. Clair library – Cheryl Skovronek, Area Manager of the TPL has recommended to the library board that the program room at the renovated library be named ‘Earlscourt Room’. Approval is expected sometime in September.
   3. Regal Road School heritage plaque unveiling – a ceremony will take place on Monday September 24, 2007 at 2:30 pm in front of the school. Principal Douglas Mintz, a representative from Heritage Toronto, Mary Bull (descendent of Bartholomew Bull and financial donor of the commemorative plaque) will attend the ceremony. Amy will speak to principal Mintz about presenting Mary Bull with a bouquet of flowers; RHRA will invite Mary to a small reception after the ceremony.



2. Street Beautification
   1. Street planters, Rosemount gardens, Springmount gardens etc. – all the gardens have suffered from lack of water and rain this summer. John Keating has done a fantastic job of watering the Rosemount gardens all summer; however improvements are needed to the watering system. More care and maintenance is needed for the Rosemount gardens. Street planters have had mums recently planted in them. The hedge of mulberry and forsythia along the OCI parking lot fence has been cut down,we believe, by the TDSB. Dick will discuss this problem with OCI Principal Renata Gonsalves and Head Caretaker Steve Van Wart to clarify our gardening and maintenance roles at Oakwood.
   2. Daffodil Hill culling and planting – Sunday October 21st at 10am will be the date for further bulb planting, and clean up of the hill. Dick and Richard will meet before then to blaze and cull trees etc. that need to be removed.
   3. Natural gardens – a local resident with a naturalized garden was recently ordered by Municipal Licencing and Standards,(acting on a complaint ) to have noxious weeds removed from her garden within 3 months. The garden is a particularly unusual garden with beautiful trees, native plants, wild flowers and birds. The owner, astounded by the complaint, asked for assistance from the RHRA gardening committee. Further investigation showed that the MLS seemed to have no interest in preserving native plants. Three members volunteered their time to assist in the “weed” removal and clean-up. Patricia Landry of the Parks and Rec Dept, assisted the owner also, in identifying the plants that the MLS considered as “weeds”. Patricia was very helpful, recognizing the value to the environment of such an unusual area. Since RHRA maintains a number of managed natural gardens, it was felt that the Parks and Rec department would be a more appropriate judge over the care and maintenance of natural gardens than MLS. Florence will draft a letter to Councillor Palacio proposing that the responsibility for setting criteria for Managed Natural Gardens be assigned to Parks. The meeting agreed to present this proposal to the membership at the November General Meeting and, if approved, to Councillor Palacio, for adoption by the City.
   4. Status of Street Sweeper program - the new program is up and running where parking is permitted on only one side of the street (except for Regal Road which will be serviced once signage goes up). Manual pick-up is being done on streets where parking is permitted on both sides of the street. If some areas are missed please report to Mike Foderick (416-392-7011).
   
   
   
3. Communications Three requests to be removed from the mailing list have been made; two because they have moved out of the area.



4. Special Events
   1. Canada Day Parade – was held on the long weekend about 40 people turned out for the parade. See photos at www.regalheights.ca
   2. Carol Sing – is scheduled for Friday December 21, 2007. It was agreed that we will: request the Salvation Army again ($100 honorarium), buy more lights for the tree ($60), invite David Self to return as MC, and ask Tony Bolla for new, improved song sheets.
   
   
   
5. Planning and Zoning
   1. Mount Royal Parkette – the construction phase is just about complete. Dumping in the park is already a concern. Amy reported that the parkette is already being used daily by residents. It is felt that the city did listen to community feedback and the results have turned out much greener than expected. The responsiveness of the city is much appreciated. Once the construction company is finished with basic construction, the Mount Royal Parkette Greening and Esthetics Committee will propose initiatives to further green the space, link it to the Garrison Creek history, consider how to bring artwork into the area. Mike reported that the following additional items would be installed as soon as possible: steps on the Mount Royal side, park lighting, refuse containers, benches, water connection, sand in the sand box, and sod as necessary.
      
      Changes to the Alberta/Mount Royal bump-out – this area is the responsibility of Transportation Services. During recent construction, some interlocking bricks were removed and replaced with black-top. Mike reported that the asphalt will be replaced with interlocking bricks.



6. School
   1. Regal Road – we welcome Douglas Mintz , the new principal; -- the vehicle lay-bys have been constructed. Signage changes will be made by the end of October.



7. Finances and Membership We have 50 paid-up family memberships to date. Our operating account balance is $897.39. Our heritage fund balance is $805. (Special thanks to Mary Bull who donated $800 for the entire cost of preparing the Regal Road School heritage plaque.)



8. Other
   1. New garbage and recycling containers – a pilot project will be carried out to demonstrate the functionality of the new larger garbage bins. Springmount Ave is one of the streets chosen for the pilot project because of the steep steps up to people's houses. (Date to be announced.) In addition, examples of the new bins will be shown at the November general meeting and full information will be provided on user costs, method of payment etc.
   2. General Meeting dates and location – Dick will apply to OCI for holding the Fall General Meeting on November 20, 2007 at 7pm. and for the Annual Meeting on May 13, 2008 at 7 pm.
   3. Police Town Hall meeting September 12 – David McLeod, Staff Inspector, 13 Division, together with several associate officers conducted an informative forum for about 30 residents of 13 Division at OCI auditorium. Safety, security, drug and alcohol problems were discussed and residents were urged to continue working closely with police, especially via the Community Police Liaison Committee and the Police Community Partnership group.
   4. Elections Ontario: information meeting re referendum – in the upcoming elections on October 10, voters will be asked to vote on two issues: i) for the person they want to represent them in the legislature, and ii) the electoral system they want to be used in future provincial elections. RHRA has been asked by Elections Ontario if we would like to host a public meeting to inform the community about the electoral system options that are being voted on. It was decided that rather than sponsor a public meeting on the issue, David will send out e-mails about the electoral systems so that residents can learn about it at their own pace. Three mailings will be sent out, a few days apart: i) what is FPTP? what is MMP? why consider changing?; ii) how does MMP work?; iii) what are the pros and cons of MMP?
   5. 2006 Census data - Peter Norman reported the following findings from recently issued 2006 census data:
      • since 2001, the population of Regal Heights has fallen from 4912 to 4551, a drop of 361 people (1.5%). This change is probably attributable to a maturing population in which children have grown up and moved out.
      • during the same period the number of occupied dwellings has reduced from 1900 to 1841 (-59). This probably reflects conversions from divided dwellings to single dwellings.

Next meeting Tuesday October 16, 2007, 7:30 pm at Marcilio's, 79 Regal Rd.