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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-08-08 SAFE AND HEALTHY COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES AUGUST 8, 2013 CITY OF KITCHENER The Safe and Healthy Community Advisory Committee met this date, commencing at 4:05 p.m. Present: Mr. A. Bieronski, Vice Chair Councillors S. Davey and P. Singh, Ms. D. Chapman, Ms. E. Clarke, Ms. D. Christiaen, Ms. J. Metzger and Messrs. P. Doherty, M. Farwell, A. Rahimi, S. Grande, and D. McKlusky. Staff: Ms. S. Weare, Strategic Initiatives Associate Ms. D. Campbell, Manager, Community Resource Centres Ms. L. Korabo, Committee Administrator Guest: Councillor D. Glenn-Graham NEIGHBOURHOOD ASSOCIATIONS PRIMER 1. Ms. D. Campbell attended to provide information on neighbourhood associations (NA) and their connection to the municipality. She posted a map outlining the geographical boundaries of the current 30 affiliated NAs, noting the City provides support to any affiliated neighbourhood group that has formed to initiate and maintain a range of community-based activities to improve quality of life. The Committee was advised of the three different types of NAs: those very active in recreational programming for community members (14-16 NAs); those that are interactive within the neighbourhood but are focussed on special events (approx. 10 NAs); and, those that are formed for special reasons / concerns affecting their neighbourhood (approx. 4-6 NAs). In order to form a Neighbourhood Association, a need for same is usually identified by neighbours, who then meet with City staff to discuss the goals and / or achievements that are envisioned; from these meetings, a plan on how to form a NA emerges. A copy of the ‘Affiliation Policy’ outlining eligibility criteria was circulated for members’ information. Once the neighbourhood group feels it is in a position to proceed, they apply to the City to become an affiliated neighbourhood association. Staff then prepares a report for Council consideration, and if approved, the new NA is added to the roster of affiliated neighbourhood associations. rd Ms. Campbell reviewed the benefits to associations, provided by the City, being: 3 party liability coverage for executive members, employees and volunteers while acting within the scope of their duties; and, access to City facilities, resources and printing. In response to questions from Committee members, Ms. Campbell spoke to: The use of GIS mapping and Statistics Canada information to determine resident or household numbers within a NA boundary. This information is then shared with the NA to aid with programming; Volunteer longevity within a NA varies greatly from those volunteering for events only, to long-serving executive members. Some NAs have succession planning in place to bring new members onboard; The different sizes of the NA geographical boundaries. The City works to ensure there is no overlap between association boundaries. Ms. Campbell then provided information on the City’s 14 community resource centres (CRC) which support NAs and provide programming space. She noted that CRCs used to be almost solely recreationally focussed but over the past ten years, have moved toward a community- resource model and are now seen as a hub for the community served. Each CRC has at least one primary NA linked to it which takes the largest responsibility for its recreational programming. Staff works to fill in programming gaps with additional offerings. In response to a question from Councillor S. Davey, Ms. Campbell noted that some NAs are more successful than others in the areas of programming and the skillset needed to guide the association. In the same manner, CRCs can be different sizes and offer different levels of programming serving either a specific neighbourhood (i.e. Bridgeport CC) or the larger community (i.e. Stanley Park CC). Additionally, larger NAs have the ability to offer more diverse programming and are able to generate a greater amount of income. Some of these NAs have built surpluses SAFE AND HEALTHY COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES AUGUST 8, 2013 - 17 - CITY OF KITCHENER NEIGHBOURHOOD ASSOCIATIONS PRIMER (CONT’D) 1. which act as contingencies to draw on. When large surpluses accumulate, some NAs have given back to the community in the form of a capital project (i.e. splashpad). Members were advised that online registration for NA programming is being phased-in for those associations who wish to take advantage. WORK PLAN 2. Ms. S. Weare advised that both Sub-Committees formed at the last meeting (Forum and Inclusion) had met in the interim and have status reports to provide to the Committee this date. Mr. D. McKlusky reported on behalf to the Forum Sub-Committee. He advised that discussion at the July Committee meeting revolved around the idea of engaging neighbourhood associations (NA) through the holding of a forum at a City facility in the Fall of 2013. He advised that the Sub-Committee met with Ms. J. Ouellette, Volunteer Resources Facilitator, who provided valuable insight for the Sub-Committee’s consideration, being: the Fall is generally a very busy time for NAs and also noted that an annual NA Summit will be held in November 2013. These two obstacles may not allow for much interest if the Committee scheduled its own forum during this same time frame. Instead, the Sub-Committee is proposing that Committee members attend the November 2013 NA Summit and participate as one of the discussion tables available for selection by NA representatives for more in-depth discussions of mutual interest. Information gathered via this opportunity could be used to design and host a forum early in 2014. A second Sub-Committee suggestion was to have members attend various NA meetings in the Fall (September-October timeframe) to pose questions of each executive with a goal of determining actionable items for the Committee’s consideration. A list of common questions would need to be determined in advance. He suggested that if the full Committee agreed with this approach, the Sub-Committee would meet again to flush out possible questions and report back at the Committee’s September 5, 2013 meeting. Once the questions were agreed upon, requests could be made to attend NA meetings. Members were asked to email possible questions to one of the Sub-Committee members to allow for compiling and consideration. Councillor S. Davey suggested limiting the number of questions being posed to the NA. Ms. D. Campbell felt that this approach would allow for NAs to clarify any engagement issues they may have, as well as provide an opportunity to understand ongoing pressures. She offered to provide information to the NAs of who / what the Safe & Healthy Community Advisory is and its mandate. Councillor D. Glenn-Graham suggested that providing the questions to NAs in advance and requesting 30 minutes of agenda time would be a good approach for this proposal. He asked that members consider asking questions that would gather information about possible uses for the Committee’s designated funds. The Committee supported the suggestions of the Forum Sub-Committee to attend NA meetings with a prepared list of questions to gain an understanding of issues / pressures and possible actionable items as well as participating in the Fall NA Summit. A review of questions to be posed to NA will be presented at the Committee’s next meeting. Ms. J. Metzger raised a related matter stating that the City of Waterloo committee on safe & healthy communities would like to have a joint meeting with Kitchener and Cambridge to discuss what safe and healthy means to neighbourhoods and the community at large. The Waterloo Committee has suggested the possibility of draft a joint statement as an outcome of this potential meeting. Several members felt this idea had merit but suggested it be considered for 2014. Ms. D. Chapman reported on behalf of the Inclusion Sub-Committee advising that its focus is to find ways to bring people together, gather information about exclusion and inclusion (in terms of mental health and physical wellbeing), and identify excluded groups as well as review SAFE AND HEALTHY COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES AUGUST 8, 2013 - 18 - CITY OF KITCHENER WORK PLAN (CONT’D) 2. ideas on how to be more inclusive. She advised that after its’ initial meeting, a small focus group was held and three groups were invited to attend, being: Afghani soccer group; Iraqi community members; and, Somali soccer league representatives. Questions posed to the attendees were: What do you need from the City? and What would make your life in Canada complete in an inclusive way? Ms. Chapman stressed that Sub-Committee members were very clear that they were not representing the City and could not make any commitments but were simply gathering information to bring back to the Safe & Healthy Community Advisory Committee only. She circulated a summary of all information gathered as well as a listing of challenges and suggestions. Other members of the Sub-Committee provided their personal observations on the benefits of the forum noting that an obvious plus was providing a venue for a dialogue that might not have otherwise taken place. Ms. Chapman commented that the Sub-Committee would like to meet again and review the information gathered at the forum and continue with its outreach, if the Committee felt that these actions were beneficial. The Committee was supportive of the Sub-Committee continuing its outreach in the near term and reporting back again. Ms. S. Weare was directed to add this action to the Committee’s work plan. Ms. E. Clarke suggested that questions surrounding the issue of inclusion be considered as questions to be posed to NAs. Mr. D. McKlusky requested that the Committee’s input on the casino issue be added to the work plan and additionally, he proposed that the Committee have a discussion on the location of methadone clinics / drug treatment facilities in the east part of the city. He commented that three clinics are now located in close proximity to each other and noted that City Council had passed a motion asking for the owners of the clinics to voluntarily space them farther apart in the future. Councillor P. Singh advised that the location of methadone clinics is outside of City Council’s jurisdiction as they are run by private operators but that staff have been requested to report back on what other communities have done concerning this issue. He suggested that this matter could come to the Safe & Healthy Community Advisory Committee for discussion at some point in the future. Councillor S. Davey noted that the Committee could review the issue from the vantage point of control measures, which could be requested when locating future treatment clinics. He suggested that members of the Committee receive a copy of the resolution passed by Council. ADJOURNMENT 3. On motion, the meeting adjourned at 6:09 p.m. L. Korabo Committee Administrator