Councillor Mary Fragedakis

The following is the letter I e-mailed to the city regarding my personal property damage claim. The response I got was a man absolutely refusing to take responsibility for the damage, and trying to blame someone, anyone, else.

To whom it may concern,

I wish to file a claim against the City of Toronto for Personal Property Damage. My name is Allison Orr, my permanent address is 268 Reynolds St. Oakville, Ontario, L6J 3L4. My cell phone number is XXXXXXXXX. I locked my Bicycle on the long multi-bicycle rack near 1 Atlantic Ave. on the north side of Exhibition Go Station at 5:40pm on Friday Oct. 19th. I returned Monday Oct. 22nd just after noon to retrieve my bicycle and the rack had been relocated down a slight hill about 20 feet away from it's original location. My bicycle was still attached, but completely unrideable. I took it immediately to a bicycle mechanic and await an estimate for repairs. The front fork is bent beyond repair and there are a number of other damaged areas. My bicycle is my main form of transportation. I ride it from Oakville to Burlington (20km) for work a minimum of twice a week and at least an additional 10km a day most days. Without it I will require other transportation until my bicycle is in working order once again. This will also cost me a great deal of time because my bike is my fastest possible transportation around the city, and I missed a number of hours of work today dealing with this issue.

The fork on the bicycle was replaced earlier this year and cost over $100. In addition there are other repairs required, including parts and labour, plus alternate transportation, and money lost due to missed work and time set backs, I estimate this will total near $400.

There is construction going on where the rack was moved and Go Transit has confirmed that the bicycle racks are maintained there by the City of Toronto. The rack was likely relocated for the construction on site, however there was no warning given, nor were there signs posted warning not to use that rack. There were a number of other bicycles also attached that may have been damaged, however I use my bicycle more than the average bike commuter and keep it in high working order.

Shannon, my bicycle mechanic from Red Arrow Bikes can be reached at 416-464-4243. I filed a complaint with the City of Toronto by calling 311 earlier today and the reference number for that complaint is 1760186. I spoke with a woman named Jackie, and despite my frustration at the situation found her very helpful and pleasant.

Thank you for your time, I hope this matter can be dealt with promptly. If you require any additional information I can be reached at this e-mail address or on my cell phone.

Regards,
Allison Orr

Toronto's parks department dumps the excrement from the animals at the High Park Zoo in the middle of the park. The poop does not have a fence around it to sequester it nor is there any sign to warn users of the park about it. The poop pile is very close to a path that people walk along and is also adjacent to the dog off leash area. Because it smells very attractive to dogs and is not fenced, it is very easy for dogs to access the pile. In addition, this is an area that coyotes are sighted and I wonder if the smell of the animal waste is also attracting coyotes. I think that dumping animal excrement in the middle of one of the city's most beautiful parks is both a health and an environmental hazard. Downhill from the pile is a stream that ends up in Lake Ontario and I am concerned about runoff, particularly bacteria parasites such as giardia. I have no objection to composting animal waste but it needs to be done properly in an area that is not accessible to the public. All of the dog owners that I have spoken to think the pile is disgusting and it either needs to be moved or adequately fenced.

I have contacted Sarah Doucette's office, Public Health and the supervisor of High Park about this. No one is taking my concerns seriously. The supervisor of High Park refuses to do anything about the pile because they have been dumping the waste there for decades. They claim that if the area is fenced off the pick up truck will not be able to dump the @#$% there. Shouldn't human health and the environment take precedence over these feeble excuses. Help!

One year ago, many community members emailed John Fillion to get the splash pad fixed but nothing was done! The rubber flooring has deteriorated and is dangerous for the children. The colouring has faded and the pole has graffiti on it.

The intersection of Underhill Dr & Lawrence Ave E is in desperate need of better signage. When driving southbound on Underhill Dr, to where it merges with Lawrence Ave E (in the right lane), essentially every vehicle that is turning right onto Lawrence stops at the following traffic island (see Google streetview image):

https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.741018,-79.324807,3a,75y,196.02h,93.61t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sWyOX8s72i2q8VZj48zc-CQ!2e0

Vehicles are supposed to yield to pedestrians (if any are present). If no pedestrians are crossing the road, vehicles are to turn immediately onto Lawrence and merge further down the road. Unfortunately, most people don't seem to understand the rules of the road. They have an entire lane to themselves, which makes it easy for them to change lanes away from the intersection, but they end up stopping at this corner for an indefinite amount of time. This causes unnecessary congestion in the right hand turning lane, especially during rush hour (creating a line of cars almost as far north as Roanoke Rd, for several minutes somtmes). For some reason people want to merge lanes right at the intersection; which isn't safe or even legal. New signage or a redesign of this corner is needed and it has to be clearly decipherable, eg. 'No Stopping', 'Do not change lanes at this point', 'Yield to pedestrians, not vehicles'...or something to that effect. The status quo is simply not good enough. This corner needs to be reworked somehow to eliminate people from stopping here. This is a perpetual issue and its extremely frustrating to deal with on a regular basis.

Just inside the section of Brookbanks Park ravine (south of Brookbanks Dr) the retaining wall and waterfall (used to aerate the creek) have been collapsed into Deerlick Creek for roughly a decade. I believe this occurred during the flood of 2005. The entire creek is an utterly dilapidated, polluted mess, but this particular section is the worst. No effort has been made to address this unacceptable state of affairs. I am sick and tired of looking at this embarrassing, filthy cesspool of rubble and litter on a daily basis. All the caged riprap (used to prevent erosion) should be removed and replaced with native vegetation (which will anchor the banks of the creek and return it to a more naturalized state (this really ought to be done across the entire ravine network, but I digress). I want this issue to finally be given some consideration and to be 'properly' repaired with native vegetation -- as I stated above -- and not more rip rap, armourstone, etc. Also, all the concrete should be removed from the creek. This isn't a dump; though it sure looks like one.

More photos of the site in question can be found here: http://s1164.photobucket.com/user/MojoPin83/library/?sort=3&page=1

As you can see in the Google street view photo I've attached, this section of boulevard is covered in horrendously ugly asphalt. It is a blight on the local community and it should be replaced with grass -- in keeping with the symmetry of the surrounding boulevard context. Why this section is paved is a mystery to me? The only section that should actually be paved is where the adjacent house's driveway meets Underhill Dr. Sod should be planted on either side of the driveway, meeting the grass on its immediate south, and extending up to Royal Doulton Dr to the north. This would greatly improve the aesthetic nature of this stretch of Underhill Dr and would give that poor tree a better chance at thriving; as well as the opportunity to plant new trees. The current situation here is completely unacceptable and is just one example of how much this city neglects its public realm. People deserve more beautiful streetscapes and public spaces. Addressing this particular stretch would be a small, but important step towards achieving that. Is it any wonder why so many people litter and think of the city as 'ugly?' Maybe if we valued our public space more there would be a greater sense of pride throughout the city and attitudes might start to change in regards to how we treat our neighbourhoods?