OTTAWA HAS PERFECT DRINKING WATER

I have received the annual summary report from the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) for 2013. Councillors have a legal oversight responsibility of compliance to MOE standards to ensure that all of our water systems (there are 7, ranging from a village well system in Carp to two major plants on the Ottawa River) meet strict standards The city tests the water hundreds of thousands of times per year to ensure a reliable, safe supply of water to Ottawa residents Im pleased that the MOE report shows a perfect score from MOE, who looked at 14 different aspects of operations, including drinking water quality, water quality monitoring and operator certification. Why pay for bottled water when you have excellent tap water at a very low cost? Use reusable water bottles and then have fun with the money youll save. You can view the information on each of our water systems at www.ottawa.ca .

CANADA POST
To find the preliminary proposal for Canada Post boxes in Beaverbrook, go to http://tiny.cc/CanadaPostKanata. You will find four documents there two maps showing locations (not easy to spot), a list of all locations, and a power point that contains photographs of each site with the location shown on the lot. These locations might change due to underground utilities or safety factors, so review them and send your comments to Canada Post, myself and the KBCA. Canada Post prefers locations on sidewalks (we have few), with lighting from street lights (again there are few) and placed in groups. For town house condominiums and rentals, Canada Post is working with the Condominium Boards and town house owners to determine locations, but these may be near other homes and also need to be reviewed. Apartment buildings are already served by group boxes in their buildings. On April 24th at 7 pm the KBCA, during their Annual General Meeting, will start a discussion on Post Box locations at the Beaverbrook Community Centre (west end of the Beaverbrook Mall) showing the most up to date locations available at that time. Further meetings will be held as needed.

NATIONAL WILDLIFE WEEK

Find out about wildlife control and living with wildlife from a panel on Friday, April 11 at 7 p.m. in Andrew S. Haydon Hall (Council Chambers) at City Hall, 110 Laurier Avenue West. The topic of this session is Backyard Biodiversity: Welcoming nature into your yard, not your home. In addition, from 6- 9 pm, you can view a nature slideshow and visit an environmental exposition to find out more about whats happening in Ottawa.

COMMUNITY NOTICES
TREE REMOVAL for a future school site may be underway this week. Details on what that means for Kanata North will be in this column as soon as all information is available. April 12, 1 4 pm: Beaverbrook Girl Guides Annual Spring Tea & Bazaar, Kanata United Church, 33 Leacock Drive. April 12, 7:30 pm: Kanata Choral Society Benefit Concert for the new Hospice in Kanata, St. Pauls Anglican Church, 20 Young Road. April 18, noon: Walk of the Cross starts from St. Johns Anglican Church, 325 Sandhill April 19, 7:30 pm: Holy Saturday Performance of Rutters Requiem and Pergolesis Stabat Mater St. Pauls Anglican Church, 20 Young Road. April 28, 6:30 8:30 pm: Public Open House on Building Heights in Kanata, Kanata Rec Complex, off Terry Fox Dr. Go to www.ottawa.ca/kanatazoning to see where the City proposes building heights of up to 30 storeys April 29, 7-9 pm Kanata North Town Hall, Minto Room, RRCK, Innovation Dr.