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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCompass Kitchener - 05-01-13 COMPASS KITCHENER MINUTES May 1, 2013 – 4:00-6:00 Schmalz Room, KITCHENER CITY HALL Present: Theron Kramer Mark Paul Sarah Marsh Tristan Wilkin Karim Fathi Chris Kopar Holly Duff David Yoon Chris Hyde Diana Bumstead Moni Lagonia Staff: Mark Hildebrand Jenn Grein Janice Ouellette Laurie Majcher Rhonda Bunn Bob Cheyne Ken Carmichael Guests: Don Drackley Theron welcomed all to meeting and provided an introduction for Laurie Majcher, the new Manager of Strategic and Business Planning to the group. Laurie thanked the group for being invited today and will be listening to much of what the committee has to say and learn about what Compass Kitchener is about. 1. Review and Approval of Minutes Last name initials to be included and one spelling error to be corrected from April minutes.  Diana requested the minutes be circulated more than one day before meeting.  The minutes from April 3, 2013 were approved by Compass Kitchener.  Moved by Mark Paul, Second by Sarah Marsh. Carried. 2. Follow-up to minutes A student will be assisting Compass Kitchener with the Voter Turn Out sub-committee and research.  Work continues with the Strategic Plan subcommittee, the colouring book is being finalized and dates  arranged to share with the community. The Advisory Committee Gathering for Chairs will be taking place June 13 from 4:30 – 6:30 and will be a  speed dating course of sorts to learn what each other’s committees are planning and also consider what committees might work together on moving forward into the future. 3. Leisure Facilities Master Plan (LFMP) Mark provided some background on the LFMP, developed in 2005, staff are now engaging the community  along with Advisory Committees of Council, and plan to update the document. Members of Compass Kitchener are welcome to provide feedback via the online survey (due by Friday,  May 3rd), or via a paper survey (due by end of May). The group agreed to provide feedback via the online survey where possible. Anyone interested in sending  in written comments can connect with Jenn to receive the survey in paper form. Compass Kitchener agreed on the importance for consideration of the community priorities within the  Strategic Plan in conjunction with the feedback received. 4. Report Card Sub-committee A portion of the June meeting has been set aside to discuss the report card. Information will be sent out  prior to the meeting for review so members are ready and able to discuss. Following that meeting, members of the sub-committee will be meeting with staff to receive final  information and feedback on the process and measurements developed. Theron provided some background on the report card for Laurie’s information.  th The Report Card sub-committee is on the CLT agenda for May 7 and will be providing information on the  process developed as well as seek feedback on which staff they should be connecting with further. 5. Youth Forum Results th A debrief meeting took place April 30. Holly provided Compass Kitchener with a brief overview of the  day including the dragons den carousal with a science fair set up where people could ask questions, then students would have an opportunity to debrief with council members afterwards. The group is considering how to accommodate a larger group of students at future sessions and the  possibility of holding the forum twice a year, November and June, likely with Resurrection and KCI if capacity allows. Although the committee was initially considering offering future forums as enrichment opportunities to a  smaller group of students, they decided against this as many of the best ideas came from students that May 1, 2013 CITY OF KITCHENER - 2 - would not have necessarily been considered for enrichment opportunities. The quality of the presentations was excellent, it was clear that many students took time at home to prepare. Rogers will be featuring the event on Talk Local or Daytime, Tuesday at 2:00, and it will be repeated  several times. Interviews will be with Holly and a member of Rotary. Rotary was very excited about opportunity, however expressed difficulty with the ongoing costs. School  board was also pleased with the event, and may consider assisting financially in the future. Future sessions may be half day, as students didn’t enjoy the guest speakers as much as anticipated, which would mean no lunch costs. This project is no longer being considered a pilot, instead it has changed into refinement mode. Youth  staff will be connecting back with youth and city staff to see if the city will be able to continue to support the staff time spent on this Forum. Theron thanked everyone who contributed to this very successful forum!  6. Transportation Master Plan Theron welcomed Ken Carmichael and Don Drackley to present on the Transportation Master Plan.  Ken introduced himself as Interim Director of Transportation Planning and Don Drackley, consultant from  IBI Group. They joined Compass Kitchener to present the work that is currently taking place on the Transportation Master Plan, along with timing outlined for the project. Ken provided a hand out to the group which served as a snap shot of the work taking place. This new  plan will consider more than plans of the past. Cars, trucks and maintenance for infrastructure, will now be combined with further consideration of walking, biking, transit and much more. Focus will no longer primarily remain on roads. This more holistic approach will assist with planning for the long term health of our city as outlined in the Strategic Plan. Although transit falls under the region, the city is able to provide input and feedback on plans in  development. Ken plans to take this forth to Council in June and will be seeing endorsement for a new emphasis on  walking, cycling, and transit as well as roads. This will require a change in how investments are made in infrastructure, we will no longer be focusing on maintenance and instead turning to growing of the system. Two areas of roads will be highlighted: the city’s south side, with new development and a significant  population, roads are needed to connect this area with the rest of the city; and Victoria East, and the connection between Kitchener and Guelph which has been considered by the region and province for a number of years. Ken clarified, this master plan is intended to be a living document and will be reviewed and updated every  5 years. It will not hinge entirely on the Strategic Plan and its cycle. One of the most difficult pieces of this process will be to change the culture of the city to focus less on driving and more on alternative modes of transportation. Compass Kitchener members supported the emphasis on walking cycling and transit – great to see trails  as an important part of the city’s infrastructure. There was some conversation regarding solutions for the Victoria East connection between Kitchener and  Guelph. With Go Transit in the region now, this path may be used less by small vehicles. Roundabouts may also be an option on this stretch. Additionally, there is still much fear surrounding the use of roundabouts – both people in vehicles and  pedestrians. Education from the region regarding this should continue. The group discussed cyclists moving off roadways and onto trails in busy traffic areas. There is some  confusion as to who has the right of way, and how best to mark off road paths used by both cyclists and walkers. Additional education would also be beneficial in this area. Ken provided a brief update on Transportation Demand Management (TDM) at the city. Approval was  received approximately a year and a half ago to hire a TDM Coordinator and Josh Joseph joined the team. He has been working with planners to encourage all forms of travel into plans throughout the city at the development stage. He places emphasis on carpooling, car sharing and the building of smart communities in the early days of development to ensure the health of our community. Additionally, he’s been working with the engineering department to offer true savings for developers if they choose to encourage TDM principals in their design. The Report Card sub-committee requested Ken provide any indicators contained within the  Transportation Master Plan for use in the report card update. May 1, 2013 CITY OF KITCHENER - 3 - Theron asked Ken to consider any additional questions the team might have of residents as Compass  Kitchener hopes to be moving forward with a citizen survey this year. Ken and team will be going forward to Council in June and asked that Compass Kitchener consider  providing a statement on their support for this initiative. Although this is not the full plan, this information serves as an executive summary, and the committee seems to support the pieces identified thus far. By consensus, Compass Kitchener agreed on this statement of support as drafted by Chris Hyde:  Compass Kitchener finds that the prioritization of walking and cycling, as a desired mode of transportation within the City of Kitchener Transportation Master Plan, is directly in line with the strategic direction and priorities of the citizens of Kitchener, and Compass Kitchener supports the principles and action items proposed within. 7. Casino discussion Theron opened this item with a summary from the last Compass Kitchener meeting. Many members of  Compass Kitchener have contributed to this summary of feedback regarding Kitchener considering hosting a casino in relation to the pillars within the strategic plan. The group worked to refine the points provided, and will need to develop a summary to provide to council in a very limited time frame of 5 mins. The group debated providing a supporting statement under each of the pillars as well as one overall  statement. Items located throughout feedback relating to finances will all be covered within the development section.  Theron, Sarah and Chris K to connect in the next few days to confirm input and will share information with  the group prior to preparing presentation. 8. Other Business Theron presented a draft letter to the Mayor regarding Council members acting as spokespersons for  citizen advisory committees. Chris Hyde suggested the language in the letter could be a bit stronger. Members agreed by consensus that this letter should be submitted to the Mayor." Meeting adjourned at 6:15 pm. Next meeting: June 5, 2013 Location: Conestoga Room Attendance: CK Attendance 2013-14.xls