Kate Porter

Journalist at @CBCOttawa and #OttCity watcher. Soft spot for NW Ontario and other treed, rocky places.

[Kate Porter @KatePorter613]

#OttCity council votes 15 to 10 to move forward with Lansdowne 2.0. Agreements to be signed and contractors likely on the site in a couple of weeks.
https://t.co/T2RYHJKTF7
#ottnews

[Kate Porter @KatePorter613]

(My colleagues Arthur White-Crummey and Cameron Mahler have been closely covering today's special council meeting, so watch for their coverage. I was at Carleton today, teaching journalism students in my second-year civics course.)

[Kate Porter @KatePorter613]

#OttCity council votes 15 to 10 to move forward with Lansdowne 2.0. Agreements to be signed and contractors likely on the site in a couple of weeks.
https://t.co/T2RYHJKTF7
#ottnews

[Kate Porter @KatePorter613]

It's the big Lansdowne 2.0 mtg at #OttCity hall. Mayor Sutcliffe didn't go through the agenda as usual. We didn't get a PowerPoint on the first item re. $11M in losses at Lansdowne, as usual. He just jumped right into Lansdowne 2.0. #OttNews

https://t.co/bRu3Avevtg

[Kate Porter @KatePorter613]

Clearly, this platform has fewer users than before, but I wanted to share parts of the docs for Lansdowne 2.0.
Taxpayers and residents always deserve transparency, facts, and a detailed, realistic discussion of risk when #OttCity contemplates big publicly owned projects. #ottnews

[Kate Porter @KatePorter613]

I haven't felt the need to post many votes for the record this term of #OttCity council.
Council just refused to even CONSIDER a motion to delay voting on Lansdowne 2.0 on Nov. 7.
Ie. $483.9M in budget authority, extending the OSEG deal through to 2075. #OttNews #cdnmuni

[Kate Porter @KatePorter613]

#OttCity staff do acknowledge the risk that the OSEG waterfall at Lansdowne 2.0 doesn't produce those revenues decades from now.

[Kate Porter @KatePorter613]

O-Train lines 2 and 4 to open five days a week on Jan. 6. To open in phases, and will bump up six-day service and seven-day service after that: https://t.co/VqaZXWW8wX #OttCity #OttNews

[Kate Porter @KatePorter613]

#OttCity's technical briefing on north-south O-Train starting now (at 10:30 a.m.) Opening date expected: https://t.co/DeplFCWH9l #OttNews

[Kate Porter @KatePorter613]

Colleagues Elyse Skura and Arthur White-Crummey will have coverage today on web, radio, video.

If you'd like to check out archival footage of the project's history, I went through old tapes dating back 25 years. Video (and 2006-era map) here: https://t.co/YrQuOhY7nj #ottcity

[Kate Porter @KatePorter613]

First details of draft budget from @arthurwhiteCBC at #OttCity hall:
- transit fares to go up 5%
- transit levy going up 8% = an extra 1% on the tax bill
- "placeholder" hope of $36M from federal & Ont ario goverments
- no service cuts
(Final vote in Dec)
https://t.co/tJODBbNGSv

[Kate Porter @KatePorter613]

This is big. #OttCity, your many years of (relatively) calm budget debates appear to be over. Mayor Sutcliffe maintains Ottawa needs $ from #onpoli or #cdnpoli, otherwise brace for a combo of 100s of dollars extra in transit levy, costly transit, cuts. #ottnews

[Kate Porter @KatePorter613]

This post got such traction back in March, I feel I should close the loop!

#OttCity announced last week at the joint transit/LRT meeting that the pedestrian/cycling bridge over the Rideau River at Carleton would open (for real) on Saturday, June 15: https://t.co/i9y90n1xvt.

[Kate Porter @KatePorter613]

Well that’s exciting. Not sure when they moved the fencing, but I just took my first walk over the #OttCity Stage 2 Rideau River pedestrian bridge from Carleton’s @JSchool_CU to Vincent Massey Park. I do love rivers.

[Kate Porter @KatePorter613]

(I did read this local news story, looking for extra info before I tweeted, but three weeks had passed and I thought I was just a lucky early user! https://t.co/wTn9IUI6nk)