Dundas Update

[Dr Awesomesauce]

I'd forgotten about this project. District should be reborn as a high school - Highland and to a lesser extent, Parkside being such sh*tty schools.

But it would be a great place to live. I spent one year of middle school there and it's got lots of charm. Along with a decent-sized auditorium, it's got two gyms: one in a later addition and one in the basement. There are definitely some ghosts in there. Can't wait to see the finished product.

[thistleclub]

Hamilton food lovers should spare a moment to say thank you and farewell.

Elsie Picone passes away
(Dundas Star, Jan 30, 2013)

A well-known and much-loved member of the Dundas community has passed away.

Elsie Picone died on Tuesday. She was in her 85th year.

Daughter Theresa Picone said her mother was diagnosed with cancer in December of last year. Mrs. Picone had spent the past few weeks in hospital, but was expected to return home on Monday.

“It didn’t happen that way. All seven of her children were with her since Monday, all afternoon and all through the night until she passed.”

A funeral is planned for Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. at St. Augustine Catholic Church, 58 Sydenham St. in Dundas. Family and friends will be received at the Cattel, Eaton and Chambers Funeral Home, 53 Main St., Dundas, Jan. 31 from 7-9 p.m. and Friday, Feb. 1 from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. Vigil prayers will be on Friday at 8 p.m.

Throughout her life, Mrs. Picone received numerous community awards, including Citizen of the Year, the Queen’s Jubilee Medal and Paul Harris Fellowship. She was a founding member of Dundas Community Services and an active member of her church.

“She was a pretty strong person, and something I think we will hear from a lot of people is that she was a mentor and a pillar of strength, not just for the family but for the community as well. She was small but mighty,” said Theresa.

In lieu of flowers, donations to the Juravinski Hospital or St. Joseph’s Hospital would be appreciated by the family.

Picone’s is one of the longest operating small businesses on King Street West in Dundas. Joseph Picone Senior started his grocery and fresh produce shop in 1915. Family members have continued to operate the business at 35 King St. W.

[SteelTown]

Rip

[Dr Awesomesauce]

Picone's is an institution in downtown Dundas. It has, over the years, become more of a high-end, specialty shop but it's still a must-see when visiting Dundas.

[thistleclub]

More info on the Madronich craft brewery.

As suggested in the Jan 24 Dundas Star article, the Valley City property that has been optioned is 65 Hatt. This leaves open the possibility of a retail/residential conversion for 64 Hatt, as has been hinted at in the past.

FWIW, here's the Notice of Complete Application and Preliminary Circulation to amend the Zoning By-law for 65 Hatt Street. I expect there will be some manner of project update from Councillor Powers at the Dundas Community Council meeting in two weeks' time.

[thistleclub]

Future native deer hunts in Dundas Valley to only use bows
(Dundas Star, Richard Leitner, Feb 7 2013)

The Haudenosaunee won’t use shotguns during future native deer hunts in the Dundas Valley to help ease neighbours’ concerns.

Chris Firth-Eagland, chief administrative officer for the Hamilton Conservation Authority, said Haudenosaunee representatives committed to use only bows from now on during a meeting to discuss the latest hunt, which ended Jan. 17.

They also agreed to review the duration and size of the hunt, which presently has an 80-deer limit set by a protocol agreement two years ago that requires hunters to stay at least 150 metres from homes.

Firth-Eagland said he was still awaiting confirmation of this year’s eight-week hunt results, but the number of deer killed again fell shy of 40, likely “because they know they’re being hunted now.”

Thirty-one deer were taken during the 2011 hunt, which was two weeks shorter and ended before Christmas.

“The deer are more wary,” he said. “They’re acting more like deer again.”

Firth-Eagland said neighbours were most bothered by the use of shotguns and resumption of this year’s hunt for two weeks in January, and it was the Haudenosaunee who suggested switching to bows and reconsidering the January portion.

The hunt closed the area bounded by Powerline, Martin, Jerseyville and Paddy Green roads Monday to Thursday.

“They’re showing the leadership,” he said. “They’re being, I would suggest, very respectful of the circumstance and I can be quoted that I consider their harvest to be successful from the parameters that we would have at the conservation authority – cooperation, trust, communication.”

[thistleclub]

$10,000 in grants help create outdoor lab
(Dundas Star, Craig Campbell, Feb 7 2013)

Two McMaster University biology professors received $10,000 in grants to create an outdoor education lab in the 115-acre McMaster Forest.
The new McMaster Conservation Corridor Teaching and Research Facility will preserve a link between the Dundas Valley and Cootes Paradise, and is bounded by Ancaster, Dundas and West Hamilton.

As members of the McMaster President’s Advisory Committee on Cootes Paradise, which made preservation of the Lower Lions Club Road site known to some as McMaster Forest a priority last year, professors Susan Dudley and Chad Harvey studied the property to find opportunities for its use – and applied to the university president’s Forward With Integrity funding program.

Dudley has been at McMaster for 17 years, but wasn’t particularly familiar with the untouched forest owned by the university since the late 1960s. Before she went to see it, Dudley thought is was more disturbed.

“We didn’t really have an institutional memory of the property,” she said.

Harvey suggested access to natural areas for research, education and conservation was a key reason McMaster University moved from Toronto to Hamilton’s Cootes Paradise 126 years ago, and that might explain why the university bought up neighbouring open space and forest.

Now the two biology professors agree that founding vision of preservation and environmental study has been strengthen. The advisory committee on Cootes Paradise has already had a couple of big successes – including successfully petitioning the university to introduce a 30-metre buffer between Ancaster Creek and west campus parking.

Harvey says the property provides much potential for research and education, noting there are some large old growth trees, and several invasive species to study and control.

“It’s a really interesting place in the Dundas Valley, at the edge of the Carolinian forest,” Dudley said.

Already, one of Harvey’s third year biology students is working in the property, cataloguing invasive species – in particular Blackthorn.

A fourth-year conservation biology class is working on a Blackthorn removal program, a project Harvey said the Hamilton Conservation Authority will be interested in, as they deal with their own invasive species threats.

The Forward With Integrity application received the maximum available grant of $5,000, and matching funds were provided by the university’s dean of Science – bringing the total to $10,000.

“The goal is having a grid system. That involves cataloguing all the trees and with that the flora and fauna,” Harvey said.

Dudley explained a grid system using the Smithsonian Dynamic Forest Plot Technique will be created, made up of 20-metre by 20-metre grids. Every tree within the plot will be tagged, then revisited several years later, inspected and measured.

“Other disciplines can refer to the plot. Everyone will know where they are working along the grid,” Dudley said.

The money will be used to purchase everything they need to create the grid, and maintain the ongoing forest plot program.

The duo is now working on getting the message out to their McMaster colleagues, and students, across several disciplines, that this outdoor lab will be available for use.

They see this project as expanding the university’s focus beyond its already well-known business, engineering and health sciences programs.

“There’s always been a core group of students, and faculty, interested in ecology and environment,” Dudley said.

[flar]

It's hard to believe that beautiful land somehow escaped being developed over the years. We are lucky that it wasn't urbanized, it will make a wonderful park.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

It's a rare case where the good guys actually won. Fabulous news.

[mishap]

This may be good conservation, but bad business. I was by Websters a few weeks back, and I was a bit surprised to see that the parking fee had jumped from $8 to $10. So take away the best feature of the place - access to the lower falls, and a really nice hike to lower Tews - and then charge more. It's like going to Wonderland and paying more because the coasters are down for repairs. At least I knew about the closure ahead of time. A lot of people don't know until after they've arrived and paid, and they're not thrilled about that.

[thistleclub]

Just noticed that a website's up for Dundas District Lofts.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

They inserted a Maserati into one of the pictures. Stranger things have happened I suppose.

[thistleclub]

Take guided walk of Urquhart Butterfly Garden
(Dundas Star, July 30 2013)

Join naturalist Matthew Mills at Dundas’ Urquhart Butterfly Garden for a free guided Butterfly and Bird Identification Walk, on Saturday, Aug. 3 at 11. a.m.

Butterflies come in many sizes, some as big as your hand and others as small as a fingernail. Some butterflies are drab and shy; others are bold and colourful. Visitors who walk through the garden are likely to see nothing but cabbage whites, but those who spend some time in the area are often rewarded with unusual sightings.

The Aug. 3 guided walk is part of a series of educational events at Urquhart Butterfly Garden, funded by the Dougher Fund of the Hamilton Community Foundation. The educational series is the first of its kind at the 19-year-old Dundas landmark. The garden is located in Centennial Park, Cootes Drive and East Street North, and is accessible by bus or bike.

Parking is available adjacent to the Air Force Club off King Street East. Hikes will convene under the trees in front of the parking lot. Cameras and binoculars are recommended; please leave your dogs at home. The guided walks begin at 11 a.m. and continue every second Saturday in August and September. More details are available at www.urquhartbutterfly.com.

[movingtohamilton]

^ All the signs point to a successful opening of the new brewery. Hoping it's up and running before Christmas!

[thistleclub]

Dundas residents still battling escarpment condo
(CBC Hamilton, Julia Chapman, August 17 2013)

Concerned Dundas residents were at city hall Friday to oppose a proposed development they say will ruin escarpment views and add unwanted density.

The development, which in its original proposal would see a six-storey, 48-unit building at 24 Brock St. N, is now in the hands of the Ontario Municipal Board. After council shut down that proposal from Eco Building Inc. in September, the developer appealed to the OMB.

Since then, local councillor Russ Powers said the developer has come back with a new plan. City council passed a new motion Friday to keep the details of that new proposal confidential until council gives the final approval, because it is part of compromise settlement negotiations.....

The battle for the residents started last year when in September, they lobbied council to shut the development down.

“It's taking away what Dundas is proud of,” said resident Adele Barrett. “We're not opposed to development, but it needs to be a proper density.”

Barrett and about a dozen other residents who attended Friday's meeting represent HEARD (Heritage, Escarpment and Responsible Development). She said the development is too dense, and too close to their backyards — the condo building was planned just 4.4 metres from a townhouse development on Brock St.

After Eco Buildings went to the OMB and drew up a new proposal, Powers said the developer solicitor had a friendly meeting with a city solicitor who later decided the new proposal was worth a review. The city's planning committee unanimously voted in late May to consider that new proposal.

HEARD has seen the new proposal too, but isn't legally about to speak about it either, Barrett said.

Powers said process is now in pre-hearings with the OMB, series of moderated, more causal meetings with the parties involved. If all three parties can't come to an agreement, a full-blown OMB hearing will have to take place.

“No one wants that to happen,” Powers said. “It'll cost about $250,000 on all sides to take on a full hearing.”

Powers said the pre-hearing scheduled in July was cancelled so HEARD could have more time to review the new plans with their lawyer. He expects the next one to take place in September or October. If a full OMB needs to happen, that will be six months to a year after, he said.

[thistleclub]

Time running out on EcoPark grant as work begins
(Dundas Star, Richard Leitner, Sept 12 2013)

The first phase of the Dundas EcoPark on the Desjardins Canal is underway thanks to the timely availability of 20,000 cubic metres of clean fill at virtually no cost to cap the site’s contaminated soil.

Yet the good news is tempered by the possibility the Hamilton Conservation Authority will lose half of a $502,000 federal cost-sharing grant for the gateway project because of a requirement to spend the money by March 31.

Authority directors last week approved the awarding of a $498,000 contract to prepare the former Veldhuis Greenhouses property for the fill, which is being excavated at nearby McMaster University to make way for a new liberal arts building.

The Community Infrastructure Improvement Fund grant, announced by Conservative MP David Sweet in January, will cover half the cost of the preparation work, which includes perimeter fencing, removal of asphalt slabs and construction of a concrete buffer to secure a remnant chimney that is a nesting spot for endangered chimney swifts.

Tony Horvat, the authority’s director of land management, said he expected work to begin this week to allow the site to start receiving the Mac fill by Sept. 27.

If all goes to plan, the one-metre cap will be graded and ready for seeding with native grasses by mid October – an interim measure until the authority comes up with its share of the money for final grading using topsoil.

The $2.4-million park will eventually feature walking paths, a tented boardwalk and viewing area, floating islands, a restored wetland area and gravel nesting areas for turtles by the canal’s banks.

But Horvat said he doubts the park’s final grading can proceed before next March because the construction season is quickly ending, jeopardizing the balance of the federal grant.

He said although the authority submitted its grant application 15 months ago, it only received Ministry of the Environment approval on July 26 to cap, rather than remove, the Veldhuis property’s soil, which is contaminated with heavy metals.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by thistleclub

Yet the good news is tempered by the possibility the Hamilton Conservation Authority will lose half of a $502,000 federal cost-sharing grant for the gateway project because of a requirement to spend the money by March 31.

I get the reasoning behind funding deadlines, though I do think there should be more consideration for the challenges that so many projects face.

But I'd be interested to know just how many of these good-news "Canada's Economic Action Plan"-type announcements have ended up losing part of their funding because those challenges meant that deadlines could not be met.

[urban_planner]

I was driving up King Street in Dundas Today and noticed on the DQ sign is said closed for season Condos and New DQ coming soon. It caught me off guard so I didn't get a picture of it.

[thistleclub]

Knowles Bequest, Dundas Reserve fund new gateway water feature
(Dundas Star, Craig Campbell, Dec 23 2014)

A new gateway water feature has been installed on Cootes Drive with no impact on the City of Hamilton’s capital budget.

Approximately $22,000 of the cost to construct the stone waterfall in the median near Thorpe Street came from the Knowles Bequest Fund, while up to $7,500 was formally approved last week to come from the Dundas Reserve Fund.

Knowles Bequest is a fund of more than $264,000 managed by a local volunteer board. It was started in the 1930s with a $20,000 trust fund set up by Colonel William S. Knowles for beautification and enhancements within the former Town of Dundas.

The Dundas Reserve Fund is projected to end 2014 with a balance of $97,050. The reserve fund for local community projects receives annual cash injections of more than $101,000 each year from cell tower leases with Bell, Rogers and Public Mobile.

Read it in full here.

[mattgrande]

Wasn't that where someone was proposing a brewery? One of the wineries, I think?