A quick note about masks…
Even though the Province of Ontario relaxed the mandatory mask rule,
here at KAL masks are still mandatory inside and out.
A few of the contractors working in the building resisted wearing a mask, despite Daniel’s pleas and the sign on the front desk.
If you have a contractor working in your suite, would you mind reminding them of the mask rule at KAL. Thank you. Every little bit helps.
And the Don Salivan Award goes to…
The Allweather Landscape Company for their work at Kensington!
In the world of landscaping the Don Salivan award is the biggest honour you can receive. Allweather Landscape Company won the prestigious Don Salivan Award for their exceptional care of the grounds at Kensington.
The judges were particularly impressed by Allweathers’ high standards in caring for a property this large with such a varied landscape including formal gardens, annual and perennial plantings, lawns, containers and naturalized areas.
Landscape Ontario is one of North America’s leading professional landscaping associations. Its’ annual awards showcase the best of the landscape and horticulture profession in Ontario.
Competition was stiff. The 49th annual juried awards for 2022 featured 40 categories and attracted approximately 300 submissions from among 3,300 members.
Only 4 awards of excellence are presented each year and if the entries don’t meet the judges’ exacting standards in the category they entered, no award is given.
Allweather clearly met the criteria, as they also won the award for Multi-Residential Maintenance Over Two Acres.
Sarah Beckon and the Allweather team thank the Grounds Committee volunteers for their contributions to achieving these honours.
Would you like to join the Grounds Committee? They are seeking a few new members…
Members are not required to volunteer to work on the grounds but are welcome to do so. Members do need to access their email about twice a week, be able to access documents in PDF and Word or Pages and have experience/interest that you feel would be an asset to the committee, please leave a note at the front desk addressed to the Chairperson, Dorothea Lovat Dickson.
For more information on the responsibilities of the Grounds Committee please visit the website.
If you ARE interested in getting your hands dirty…volunteers needed
The Grounds Committee is also seeking a few active volunteers who need not be committee members.
lf you can work on moderately physically demanding tasks, sometimes on uneven terrain, the Grounds Committee would be pleased to hear from you. Tasks might include weeding, fertilizing and seasonal planting of annuals and containers, please leave a note at the front desk addressed to Denise Reaume.
Coming soon to the KAL Website…A GARDENING BLOG
The Grounds Committee has offered to post a regular blog about what’s happening on the grounds. What plants and trees are blooming, activities in the various gardens and other great details about our glorious grounds.
Stay tuned….
BREAKING NEWS ON THE STATUS OF THE SINKHOLE
The BIG DIG finally got underway this past Friday April 29.
It took 3 hours, and the engineers reached a depth of 13’.
What did they discover?
The drain that carries ALL the wastewater for ALL 225 apartments at Kensington is damaged, and that damage is the cause of the depression in the earth, better known around here as The Sinkhole (minus the expletives)
The current drain is buried at a depth of about 13 feet. However, after excavating to a depth of more than13 feet the full extent of the damage could not be determined without excavating further north and the south of the current area. This heightened concerns about the stability of the slope.
Given that, what can we do?
The engineers (civil and geo technical) determined that it would make more sense from a financial, construction and conservation point of view to install a new insulated pipe a little more than 4 feet below the surface. With a decreased depth comes a smaller footprint for a trench and therefore a less invasive approach. The engineers are now working on a revised plan that would see the full replacement of the drain from the terrace level to the manhole at the perimeter of the property at Rosedale Valley Road. The ravine is governed by the provincial Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) and the municipal Ravines and Natural Features Protection (RNFP) so KAL must work in concert with their guidelines.
The old pipe will be capped and filled with concrete and the floor of the manhole reduced to accommodate the depth of the new drain.
What are the next steps?
They are already underway.
On Tuesday May 3 the geotechnical engineer, civil engineer, as well as a representative from RNFP met with the Resident Services Manager (RSM) and the contractor to lay out a plan for moving forward.
The engineers will put together a plan explaining the reasons for a less invasive approach (the 4’ deep pipe). They must physically measure the circumference of the existing pipe and do some flow calculations and provide a report and drawings to TRCA and RNFP.
Once the report and drawings are in place, the original RNFP approval would simply be updated with the new information and the original arborist report will be revised to indicate the new tree protection area and possible tree damage.
Then, all the revised documents will have to go to TRCA and RNFP.
The latter has already stated they have no issues and will speak directly to the engineers at TRCA to update.Everyone involved is aware of the urgency of the matter.
What about the wastewater?
As soon as it was discovered that the source of the problem was the wastewater drain, the RSM arranged for the installation of a temporary overland pipe to carry the wastewater down to the Rosedale Valley Road manhole until the drain problem is solved.
The Good News?
The good news is we can start to fill the existing hole and KAL gets a brand new drain.
For those who want more sinkhole information…
There is a comprehensive history of all that has taken place to date on the website.
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