Open invite to local Planning meeting

Dear Members of the Lakeshore community:

You are invited to attend Lakeshore's fourth Community Planning
Conference. This special event will take place on Saturday May 1st,
2010 at the 'New' Toronto Police College (70 Birmingham Street) from
8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Keynote Speaker will be John Sewell, former Mayor of Toronto.

The Lakeshore is composed of a mosaic of community groups, businesses,
agencies and individuals. Come hear what these individuals and
community groups are doing to improve the Lakeshore, more importantly;
come tell us what is most important to you. What should we do to
improve the Lakeshore, what are your priorities, how do we make a
great community even better?

Participants will take part in discussion groups on various topics:
arts, heritage, environment, economic development, governance,
planning, parks, transportation, housing and community safety. The
discussion group titles are suggestions only, if you have a suggestion
for a better topic please let us know. The objective for the day is
to identify what makes a liveable community, and decide on at least a
strategy on how to move forward together.

We will provide breakfast, lunch and daycare. Come meet your
neighbours and help plan for an even more liveable community.

You can register for this conference:
a) visit our website at: www.lakeshoreforum.ca or,
b) call 416-252-9701 ext. 795

Please circulate this flyer to your neighbours and community group
members, everyone is welcome.

RSVP as soon as possible,

Carole & Andrea
Tel: 416-252-6471

Off Leash Meeting Notes

This past week there was a public meeting held to explain and discuss the process for Off-Leash Park applications. Generally most of the information is posted on the City of Toronto website, and is well explained. In attendance was approximately 30 residents of the area, a few representatives of Leash Free Mississauga, and of course the city staff holding the meeting.

One of the few points that are not readily available on the Toronto website that I gained from the meeting is;
- most if not all Leash Free sites will be fenced by the city. As well any benches, garbage containers, and other features are part of the city budget.
- a design process will be entered after the site has been fully approved and vetted. This will be with some consultation of the applicant group.
- a community group can make multiple applications for multiple parks/sites. Each must be submitted separately.

As well;
- Our site is still being processed, but all things moving well we can hope to hear from the city in November.
- There is also a very new application for Marie Curtis park (that I believe we should collectively support)

Lets hope that things move quickly and we can have a leash free park before the winter!

Minutes of First Official Meeting- May3/09

A huge thanks to everyone who came out to our first official meeting.
The following are the minutes.

We went over the basic business of our association and the following details were agreed upon:

Mission Statement:
A group of dog lovers and dog owners who want to make South Etobicoke and especially Colonel Sam Smith a better place for all, including our canine friends.

Goals:
To create a LEASH FREE area near the waterfront. A place where our canine companions can run and play Off-leash 'legally'.
To provide a place for dog owners and lovers to find information about special events/ news/ warnings as per the website. Examples: Cherry Beach Association/Mississauga Off-Leash
To pursue further dog-centric activities in the area, such as events, walks and more, as we grow.

Rules or Bylaws of Association:
a) Ownership of a dog not required. Open to anyone who is a concerned local resident who wants to make a difference.
b) Must be respectful of other members as well as other local residents and groups. (Remember: not all dog owners are good citizens, and the best way to achieve our goals is to work with others as well as the City)
c) No membership fee is required to join at this time, but the we reserve the right to later ask for money to help continue the group.

The obligations and responsibilities of the association were discussed, and the conditions set out by the City explained.

After going over the map of the park area several areas were identified as sites of interest that will be included in the application.

Finally, 3 executive members were acclaimed, with 2, Maria and Joanne who will be on the application and a third- Christine, as an alternate. All other members were given flyers to distribute and asked to recruit new members.
Kim volunteered to help maintain the blog.

The meeting was adjourned, and a few photos were taken of some of the newest members for our blog.
Thanks to all who came out.

Meeting Reminder!

We are having our first meeting Sunday May 3rd at 3pm.

We will meet outside, in the park (Colonel Sam Smith) at the covered picnic pavilion near the path, by the cricket pitch. Please come prepared with ideas and info. I will do my best to keep it to no more than 1 hour.

If you have anything you would like on the agenda, please drop me a line about it and I will add it in.

Hope to see you all on Sunday!

1st Meeting Called

RSVP required!

To allow for the best possible attendance, I would like to move the meeting to next week Sunday May 3rd at 3pm.

We will meet outside, in the park (Colonel Sam Smith) at the covered picnic pavilion near the path, by the cricket pitch. Please come prepared with ideas and info. I will do my best to keep it to no more than 1 hour.

If you have anything you would like on the agenda, please drop me a line about it and I will add it in.

Hope to see you all next week Sunday!
Maria