September 2019 - Planning and Development Update

Submitted by Herta and Eric

Onward and Upward

The Planning and Development Committee has had a month of meetings which have resulted in making strides toward the rehabilitation of our buildings and addressing aging in place.

On Sept 16 the Co-op was provided with CMHC’s approval letter for the Preservation Funding program. Funding is for a maximum amount of $25,000.00. The Board signed the agreement and it was submitted October 1st, 2019.

The Planning and Development Committee met with Jeff Ku and Christina Hopkins from Urban Systems on Sept 23 (see minutes here). Asset Management is an important application to plan for the future of our co-op needs. Urban Systems will be teaching our co-op how to plan for future decision making concerning what gets repaired / replaced, and when and long term financial planning to accommodate our future needs. Up to this time there has no clear directive or culture of long term planning at SHC. For the most part Buildings and Grounds Committees have done the bulk of this work. Planning and Development has provided Urban Systems with a number of important documents (annual budget, current financial statements, 60 year analysis, 2018 Building Condition Assessment, etc.). Urban System’s will spend the next few weeks building out a strong working draft of an Asset Management Program and will present it to the Planning and Development Committee on October 25th.

Urban Systems has also provided us with some important information that we encourage each member to read through. Although “Building Community Resilience Through Asset Management: A HANDBOOK & TOOLKIT FOR ALBERTA MUNICIPALITIES” is designed for cities, the principals will apply to SHC’s future planning.

A meeting with Urban Matters, CMHC and Planning and Development Committee members was held to discuss the issue of accessibility in our units. While no clear decision was made Bob Bott reported that there seem to be some interest in CHMC being flexible about the 20% accessibility rule for funding.

A meeting was also held on Sept 26 with MODA to discuss the first draft of the schematic design. The result of the Accessibility study and a draft of the design for our units was presented at the General Meeting on Sept 27 (see presentation here).

August 2019 - Planning and Development Update

Submitted by Herta and Eric

The last couple of weeks in August has been very busy. Our contract with Urban Matters officially was signed at the end of July, but our first number of tasks weren’t scheduled to begin until mid-August to accommodate for vacation time. But we are up and running in a very substantial manner. See below.

Engagement: Gathering and sharing information
Lee Prevost Housing Development lead for Urban Matters started the process of gathering information and ideas from co-op membership at our annual Birthday Party celebration. He spent ten minutes at the outset providing information on the rehabilitation plans for our building, accessibility analysis, and engagement. Lee explained how Urban Matters will facilitate these processes in order to move us forward in a meaningful, evidence-based manner. He then spent several hours talking to individuals and small groups to determine their hopes, concerns and expectations. One of his questions to members was their preference and expectation for how information could be shared on a regular basis. As expected there were a diversity of views—with members needing a combination of methods, including paper, electronic, public presentation etc. Engagement with the membership will be an ongoing process.

In addition to the internal engagement program that Urban Matters and Planning and Development will be undertaking, there is substantial work to be done with our external stakeholders. These include groups such as the Community Association, Ward Councillor, City of Calgary, CMHC, Curling Club and people in the neighbourhood. It is paramount that we either re-engage with organizations that have been committed to Sunnyhill in the distant and recent past, as well as, build new relationships with the broader community. Urban Matters’ strategy is to engage early and engage often. The logic for this type of engagement is to not only keep stakeholders informed and engaged, but to intercept concerns and hearsay and address them in an honest and generous fashion.

Performing an accessibility analysis
Jerome Lengkeek, an accessibility expert, gathered data from six units this month (two different layouts of our three, two and one bedrooms). Data included not just measurements of rooms inside units but also inspection of common space, landscapes, connection to transportation systems as well as parking availability. This was the first step on determining how and if some of our units can be made accessible through a retrofit process and whether or not we can meet the 20% benchmark set by the National Housing Strategy (NHS) funding requirements. Stan Leyendorst from Inclusive design will be responsible for analyzing the data. How ‘accessibility’ is defined by the NHS is an ongoing question and under discussion by many Co-ops across Canada.

Urban Matters will present the Accessibility Analysis to the membership at the September General Meeting. This will be the start of a very important conversation and a decision making point for SHC. Bring your neighbours!

Initial Design investigations
A preliminary look at our property was undertaken by Modern Office of Design And Architecture (MODA) in August. This company was recommended by both SAIT and University of Calgary Faculty of Environmental Design in previous discussions with the Planning and Development Committee. MODA will prepare a schematic study as the basis for the rehabilitation and sustainability requirements of the NHS. This work is in the early phases and we expect to have much more to report in September.

Project Initiation Meeting
On August 21, Planning and Develompment undertook a Project Initiation meeting with Urban Matters. The purpose of the meeting was to “confirm the project vision and principles of success, roles & responsibilities, scope of work & timelines." At this time Urban Matters would also "collect information including existing proposals, plans, drawings, financial information, and stakeholder engagement summaries." The bulk of this work had already been completed prior to us signing on with Urban Matters, so we didn't get into deep detail on any of this. Instead, the agenda of the meeting was—as indicated in the scoping Proposal-to "review the workplan, identify key stakeholders, background & history, information sources and any additional actions that would support a fulsome feasibility process.” The meeting was very productive. Minutes can be found here.

August 19 & 20 - Accessibility Assessment

Submitted by Eric Moschopedis

Urban Matters will be on site August 19 & 20 to begin our accessibility assessment. They will be working with Jerome Lengkeek from Urban Systems (Urban Matters) and Stan Leyenhorst from Universal Access Design to undertake the analysis. This first bit of work will see Jerome tour three or four, one bedroom units and a one, two and three bedroom unit. Urban Matters will be taking measurements, photographs, and notes. Herta and Andrea will be organizing the tours with members directly, so you may hear from them in the coming weeks.

For a detailed look at this phase, please see below from the Housing Regeneration Scoping Proposal.

TASK 3: ACCESSIBILITY ANALYSIS Urban Matters will perform an accessibility analysis to identify the feasibility of retrofitting a minimum of 20% of existing units to meet the National Housing Strategy accessibility requirements. Reviews will occur in up to 6 units (intent is to review one of each floor plan typology). Actions will include;

• Capture of relevant photos and measurements

• Inspection of common space, landscapes, and connections to municipal transportation system (sidewalks, bus stops) as well as parking (on-street and parking lot if relevant)

• Preparation of a concise report with an assessment of existing conditions as well as recommendations on how to improve accessibility within constraints of existing physical structures. Recommendations will also include potential improvements to the site for both residents and visitors. High level guidance will also be given on key considerations for any future development

June 14, 2019 - Planning and Development Presentation

Submitted by Eric Moschopedis

Hello friends,

This is a video of the Planning and Development presentation that was given to the membership at the June 14th General Meeting. The video runs for about an hour and provides a strong overview, updates, and next steps regarding the lease negotiations with the City, the rehabilitation of our buildings, aging in place, and financing. It is important that those who did not attend the meeting take the time to familiarize themselves with the information as it will be the foundation for future discussions.

You will need to use this password to access the video: Andreaintheoffice