CCRA PRESIDENT Bob Baron: November 2001 Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the 15th annual Volunteer Recognition Night hosted by Scarborough Community Council and the Toronto Parks and Recreation - East District. The citations awarded annually are for "outstanding service and achievement in their respective recreation, parks and culture activities". This evening was attended by all councillors representing Scarborough ridings as well as representatives of the provincial and federal governments. It was impressive and heartening to hear about the achievements of these individuals and groups and how many years these people had devoted to helping others. Angie Wilkinson, the president of the Port Union Seniors was presented with an individual citation. She joined the seniors in 1995 and started as the Travel Convenor. She then volunteered to produce "Prime Times", the popular seniors' newsletter. She has since led them into a more active involvement in the community. The Port Union Seniors have become integral members of such special events as Earth Day, Winterfest, Summer Sunday Concerts and the Fun Run. Earlier this year, the CCRA nominated the Port Union Seniors as our candidate for these awards. I am delighted to tell you that they won the citation for Group of the Year for 2001. For the community events such as those listed above, the seniors run all the food operations, donate coffee, tea, etc., arrange transportation when needed and establish partnerships with many local businesses which graciously donate items and discounts that enhance these events. Their most recent success was the organisation and hosting of "Creative Visions 2001", a combination Art Show and Community Service Information Fair, held on September 21st and 22nd. Their next project is to raise funds for the provision of a water fountain for our youth at the Skateboard Park. They are donating $1,000 up front and hope to raise the remaining $2,500 by fundraising in the upcoming year. Thank you and congratulations to Angie and the Port Union Seniors. In my last report, I told you that it looked like Quest was no longer interested in participating in their portion of the Port Union Village development. This is now the case and Intracorp has stepped in and are proposing three possible scenarios for the former Quest property. We, along with PUVHA and WRCA are evaluating these for how well they fit in to the community's expressed preferences for the overall Village Common project. Yellow Moon has offered to "convey its portion of the Village Common to the City as soon as possible" "provided that the City and the residents' groups do not contest approval by the OMB of Yellow Moon's official plan, zoning, subdivision and other development applications at the Phase II hearing". This offer puzzles me. As you will recall, Yellow Moon told us earlier this year that their property was free of asbestos and submitted their Record of Site Condition (RSC) to get final approval to proceed with building houses. When local residents discovered asbestos on these very lands and raised the issue with the Ministries of the Environment and Labour, as well as the City, Yellow Moon promptly withdrew their RSC and are now about to have their lands thoroughly audited by the MOE. They now want us to give them carte blanche to do what they want and in return they will turn over to the City, lands which have yet to be proven to be asbestos-free. I do not think that we would be doing justice to our community if we did not continue to be vigilant and examine the respective merits of all proposals and plans put forward. Something happened to me the other week which reminded me to give you a warning. Some one came to my door, offering to reseal my driveway for $70. The price seemed a little high based upon what I paid the last time but the company was supposed to get rid of all the weeds poking through and fill any cracks with some rubberised compound before spaying on the sealant. They finished the job and it looked pretty good but a few days later, we started a rainy period that lasted several days. You can imagine my surprise when I went out on the first sunny morning after the rain and discovered that large patches of this weatherproof sealant had been washed away. I tried calling the company to have them come back and re-seal the bare patches but they won't even return my phone calls. My point is that we tend to accept people at their word and sometimes unscrupulous people find it easy to take advantage of that. If you want to minimize the likelihood of being bilked by any of these people coming to your door as I was, try to deal with people whose work you know or who were recommended by some one you trust or who are willing to guarantee their work in writing. There has been some concern expressed around here lately that our portion of the waterfront trail is in jeopardy. The project manager of the overall waterfront project seems to think that the Toronto waterfront ends around Cherry Street. Councillor Moeser is trying to arrange some meetings with Mr. Fung to see if we can't protect our portion of this huge development. Remember the pictures of Mayor Lastman being hugged by Premier Harris and Prime Minister Chrétien when they thought we were a shoe-in for the 2008 Olympics. It seems that now the cameras are not clicking, the Provincial and Federal Governments have not yet seen fit to ante up their promised portions of the funding. It's time that Steve Gilchrist and John McKay reminded their respective treasurers that they are late living up to their commitments Bob Baron