Scott Moffatt's Twenty One Podcast

Scott didn't get a chance to finish up his Twitter project, where every day for a year he thanked the many people whose work, support and friendship he appreciated during his 12 years as a Councillor in the City of Ottawa. He finishes the project here in our final episode, devoted entirely to thank yous.

This week, we dig into Draft Budget 2022 which will focus on affordability. The overall municipal tax increase is capped at 3 per cent, as directed by Council – worth an estimated $56.1 million. This would see the average urban homeowner pay an additional $119 per year, while the average rural homeowner would pay an additional $91 per year.

Scott talks about how COVID has affected the City's bottom line. He also touches on tax bills, your water bill, local projects in our Ward, and some of the notable City-wide projects.

Scott follows up on Episode 45 today by discussing more about the City's New Official Plan, the very large document that will guide Ottawa's growth for the next 25 years. In this episode, Scott focuses more on the impact the Plan will have on our Ward, a primarily rural party of the City.

This episode is part one of our discussion of the City's New Official Plan, just approved by City Council last week (October 27th, 2021). This is the document that will guide development and growth in the City of Ottawa for the next 25 years. Along with being our Ward Councillor, Scott is Co-chair of the Planning Committee and gets into some of the "bigger picture" elements of the New Official Plan – the Urban Boundary, Tewin, Secondary plans and more. Make sure you check out Episode 46 (coming soon) as well. That will be Part two of our discussion on this subject, as we focus on the plan's specific local impacts on our Ward.

In this episode, Scott discusses three important issues on our Ward: Wind turbines, the busy truck traffic in the villages of Manotick and how to handle things at David Bartlett Park.

Scott discusses a busy lively Council meeting on October 13th. Council approved the new Parks & Recreation Master Plan, the Master Site Plan for the new Civic campus of The Ottawa Hospital, an extension and expansion of the Automated Speed Enforcement in school zones program and a new Small Business Property Tax Subclass.

Locally, approval of the zoning for Mattamy’s Richmond Meadows community was provided. This is the development in the Western Development Lands on either side of Ottawa Street. Council also supported Scott's opposition to a Zoning By-Law amendment that would have seen a new pit on Fernbank Road. The area is already saturated with properties zoned for pits and quarries and this application was unnecessary, in Scott's and the community’s opinion.

Also impacting us locally, Council approved the final ward boundary update which included the new ward names for the 2022 municipal election. As reported previously, our ward will become Rideau-Jock.

Back in September, Kanata North ward Councillor Jenna Sudds was elected to Parliament leaving that seat vacant. Council voted 20-3 to approve an appointment process to fill the seat. Council will now accept applications and conduct interviews before selecting the next Councillor for Kanata North. Scott says he found that option undemocratic and was one of the three to vote against an appointment.

Scott also touches on the decision Council made regarding our LRT troubles and specifically, the Stage 1 procurement process.

Along with being Ward 21's Councillor, Scott is the Chair of the Standing Committee on Environmental Protection, Water and Waste Management. On June 17th, he held a technical briefing on the Solid Waste Master Plan. Staff provided an overview of the Phase 2 report, which includes the proposed vision statement, guiding principles and goals for the Solid Waste Master Plan, a 30-year plan that will guide how we manage solid waste, increase waste diversion and extend the life of the landfill.

In today's episode, Scott gets us up to speed on this week's briefing and where the City goes from here in its waste management plans.

This week, Scott gives us info and background on the City's CIP program which has come under recent scrutiny because of a Porsche dealership on Montreal Road.

Today, Scott talks about his recent series of virtual town hall meetings, including the one for Manotick, which we focus on today. It was all about Manotick development - current and future.

In this episode, we dive into the exhilarating world of municipal drainage with special focus on the Cranberry Creek Municipal Drain in North Gower. Regulated by the Drainage Act, there are over 700 municipal drains throughout Ottawa.