Present: Amy Bodman, Brent Calhoun, Richard Cavanagh, Rosa Cordiano, Linda DeGiorgio, Anita Kung, Harry Lay, Beth Marcilio, Peter Norman, Dick & Florence Watts

1. Heritage and History
   
   1. Regal Rd School portico restoration – Harry has submitted an application to Heritage Toronto nominating the school portico restoration project for the William Greer Architectural & Craftsmanship award. It involved the production of 7 copies of "before and after" photos of the project. The out-of pocket expenses of the submission were $129.38 All present agreed that RHRA would pay these costs from the Heritage Fund.
   2. ‘St. Clair West in Pictures’ third edition –
      1. the estimated completion date for the printing of 1500 copies is mid-October, about the same time as the library is expected to re-open.
      2. Dick has volunteered to lead a heritage walk, early in November, to identify several locations described in the new third edition. The walk will begin and end at the Dufferin St. Clair library.
      3. RHRA will be receiving a supply of the books to sell. At the annual meeting, 19 pre-orders for the books were placed. Anyone interested in pre-ordering copies of the book may still do so by contacting Dick Watts.
   3. The Tollkeeper’s Cottage is now open Saturdays 10am to 5pm - Information about the cottage and the tours available can be found at www.tollkeeperscottage.ca The website includes a list of donors and links to local organizations. A $200 donation is suggested for associations interested in developing affiliations with the cottage. RHRA will revisit this possibility when more funds are available in the heritage account.
   4. Earlscourt History Club - Despite David Raymont having moved out of the RHRA area, he continues to work to develop the Earlscourt History Club. Everyone is encouraged to visit the website filled with good historical information at www.earlscourthistory.ca
   
   
   
2. Street Beautification
   1. Rosemount gardens – continues to be cared for by Marla, John & Richard. The grass has been cut regularly this past summer by the OCI caretaking staff.
   2. Springmount gardens –has been difficult to access this summer due to the watermain reconstruction work. As a result, the golden rod has been taking over. The area is in need of maintenance.
   3. Street barrels – frequent thieving of plants continues from the planter barrels.
   4. Daffodil Hill tree culling, clean-up and planting – the plants on daffodil hill are thriving well. A walk up the ramp gives one a sense of being in the country. The wildflowers are beautiful and the apple trees are bearing fruit! Unwanted invasive trees (especially Tree of Heaven) will be removed on Sun October 19th at 1 pm. Litter clean-up and daffodil bulb planting will be on Sunday October 26th at 10am. Wear sturdy shoes, garden gloves, and bring a good shovel.
   5. Graffiti – at the back of Regal Rd School, graffiti was particularly bad this summer. Linda D. will discuss this with principal Mintz.
   
   
   
3. Special Events
   1. Street Sale June 21st – the original co-ordinator of the street sale has moved out of the area. At the last minute, Florence, Peggy Lampotang and Margaret Rao organized the street sale for this past summer. It is felt that the annual street sale is a wonderful community building event and should be continued. This topic is to be raised at the November General Meeting to hopefully find a subcommittee to carry it on.
   2. Carol Sing –is being planned for Friday December 19 at the OCI parkette.
   
   
   
4. Planning / Zoning / Construction TTC ROW Phase 3 (Vaughan Rd to Westmount) – is about to begin. The watermains will be installed first. Answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) can be found at the City’s website www.toronto.ca/wes/techservices/involved/transportation/st-clair_construction/faq_p3.htm#a18 The idea of establishing an information kiosk for those without access to internet will be raised at the November General Meeting. Community requests to increase the number of street trees planted on St.Clair are still under discussion although the construction contract has gone to tender. The City has agreed to meet again with the Community Consultation Group to further explore possible tree locations. If found, an addendum to the contract can be made.
   
   
5. Mount Royal Parkette & Bump Out –
   1. progress report – Amy reported that little was done over the summer. She is still waiting for the site to be turned over to the City by the contractors before greening initiatives can begin. She is looking into acquiring bulbs for planting this fall.
   2. Amy's committee has applied for $1500 award from Clean & Beautiful to develop the bump-out (the paved, traffic-calming measure located north of the parkette). Amy and Robert Mayes of Clean & Beautiful have discussed possible work on the bump-out including replacing asphalt and bricks with sod. (the community would be expected to maintain and cut the grass). Adding more planters to prevent cars from driving over the area. Amy's committee will try to finalize plans with her committee in the next few weeks.
   
   
   
6. Clean-up and paving after waterline work – repaving of sidewalks is in progress.
   1. Discontent was voiced over the seemingly arbitrary fees charged to replace private waterlines. Peter, Brent, Anita and Rosa will draft possible procedures for addressing these concerns (these procedures will be discussed at the next meeting).
   2. It has been reported that some waterlines were improperly reconnected. As a result, a few residents have received excessively high, and incorrect, water bills. If residents are experiencing this scenario, they should contact Councillor Palacio’s office to have it resolved.
   
   
   
7. St. Clair Avenue Study, between Glenholme and Keele – a meeting on September 22nd at 7 pm at St. Nicholas Church Hall, 1277 St. Clair will be held to present the Consultant's report. Peter Norman, our representative to this study, will be out of town. Dick will attend the meeting.
   
   
8. Garbage/Recycling/Environment
   1. Leaking of rotting waste from trucks – sometimes the tank that holds the liquid waste in garbage trucks is not properly sealed allowing for leakage to occur. If you see leaking waste from a truck, report the street name and truck number to Mike Foderick and he will have the truck inspected.
   2. Scavenging for bottles – some collectors have been trespassing into driveways and backs of homes looking for bottles. One can call police at 416-808-2222 to report the trespassing.
   3. Ward 21 Environment Day: at the Wychwood Car Barns Site, Saturday September 28th from 10am to 2pm.
   
   
   
9. Membership and Finances
   1. Website fees – Dick has paid $81.90 to secure the Regal Heights domain name for an additional two years.
   2. Current membership and finances – we currently have 65 paid-up families in our membership.
   3. Heritage Fund - $305 minus $129.38 to be paid out for nomination submission: 175.62
      Operating fund - $1013 minus $81.90 to be paid to Dick for domain name: 931.11
      Total Funds ………………………… 1106.73
   
   
   
10. Other
    1. Police meeting delegate – Rosa will attend next police meeting on behalf of RHRA
    2. RHRA Executive – at the last annual meeting, discussions resulted in a request for more general meetings as some members are not comfortable joining meetings in private homes. There is the possibility to use the Earlscourt Room at the library or the City premises at 1357 Davenport Road for monthly meetings of the Executive Committee. Following discussion, it was decided to continue to hold two general meetings annually at a large public location as in previous years. Monthly executive meetings will continue to be open to anyone interested in attending. However, when voting occurs, only executive members may be involved. One or two of these monthly meetings will be held at the library if suitable arrangements can be made.
    3. Congratulations were extended to Amy Bodman on the acceptance of her film into the Vancouver film festival. The film, shot in Zimbawe over the last 15 years, is titled “The Limits of What We Know”. It will be presented in Vancouver on October 8th, and will be reviewed at ‘treehugger.com’.

Next meeting: Tuesday October 21st at 7pm. at the residence of Harry Lay, 2 Glenholme Ave.