CJRO News: January 6, 2024 to January 12, 2025
Hello bonjour and welcome to CJRO News on CJRO Radio. I'm Candice Vetter reporting from Russell. Happy New Year to all our listeners and supporters.
The City of Ottawa and the Tewin project team are holding an in-person open house this week, the evening of Thursday, January 9. This is the third open house on the Tewin project, which was proposed in 2020 by the Taggart Group of Companies and the Algonquins of Ontario. The project covers about 1,600 hectares of farmland and forest in an unserviced area of rural southeast Ottawa between Carlsbad Springs and Edwards. In November the City of Ottawa announced that over 500 hectares of the lands will be designated a provincially significant wetland and be managed as a natural heritage trust. The protected area is to the east of the 15,000-home main suburban development, and includes the headwaters of the Bearbrook. The press release from Tewin said the upcoming open house will introduce a preliminary land use plan, options for supporting infrastructure, and information on the natural systems approach and sustainability.
A water and wastewater master plan update, prepared by CIMA+ then released by the Township of Russell on January 6, reveals that Russell Township Council plans to expand the small rural municipality’s population by 13,000 persons by 2046, in the villages alone. Statistics Canada shows the whole township’s 2021 population as almost 19,600. The new report says the number of persons needing publicly supplied water will be over 32,000 by 2046. This figure does not include people on private wells, on farms or rural residences. The report also advised that significant changes to the water supply and wastewater treatment facilities will need to be put in place very soon to accommodate any more growth. Last year a report revealed that the township is already releasing too much ammonia into the Castor River when it disposes of effluent. The new report will be available for public comment until February 5, at Russell.ca.
The Living Locally Fair hosted by St. Thomas Aquinas school in Russell and the Russell Horticultural Society will take place Saturday, January 18 at the school. The fair was started to promote awareness of local businesses and organizations, to highlight sustainability and local sourcing and to provide an indoor marketplace in winter for vendors when there are few fairs available. Prospective vendors can register at livinglocallyfair.ca.
The Tim S. Dool, a bulk carrier ship which was grounded on the Crysler Shoal on the U.S. side of the St. Lawrence Seaway on November 23 was successfully refloated on December 16. Meanwhile the MV Maccoa, another bulk carrier, has been grounded near the Port of Montreal since Christmas Eve. Attempts to refloat her have so far been unsuccessful and cargo is scheduled to be removed on January 11 to lighter the vessel.
The interior design of the soon-to-be-built 5000-square-foot Embrun branch of the Russell Township Library is now available at russellbiblio.com. Besides the usual shelving, and reading and video materials, it will include three meeting rooms for community use, a genealogy area, quiet study areas, and open spaces. The current branch is 1100 square feet.
St. Andrews Anglican Church in Vars is for sale. The church was established in 1888. It has never had running water and simply kept its services short. The final service and deconsecration was held November 17. This follows the announcement that the St. Laurent Catholic Church in Carlsbad Springs was listed for sale in November.
CJRO reports on the local news that matters, so send tips, issues and comments to newscjro@gmail.com by Monday mornings. Listen to the news and Local First on cjroradio.com anytime or on the Tune In or Radio Player Canada apps, the Radio App, Apple Music, the Unison Radio app, or at FrequencyNews.ca. CJRO is part of the iHeart Radio group and the Local Journalism Initiative. I'm Candice Vetter for CJRO, 107.7 FM, last on the dial and first for local news.
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