HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil Minutes - 2004-06-14 SSPECIAL COUNCIL MINUTES
JUNE 14, 2004
CITY OF KITCHENER
A special meeting of City Council was held at 1:40 p.m. this date, Chaired by Mayor C. Zehr and with
all members present except Councillors B. Vrbanovic and J. Gazzola. Councillor G. Lorentz was in
attendance for part of the meeting.
Notice of this special meeting had been previously given to all members of Council by the City Clerk
pursuant to Chapter 25 (Council Procedure) of the Municipal Code.
Mayor C. Zehr advised of an additional matter subject to solicitor-client privilege for in-camera
discussion later this date.
Moved by Councillor C. Weylie
Seconded by Councillor J. Smola
"That an in-camera meeting of City Council be held this date to consider two matters subject to
solicitor-client privilege."
Carried.
R. Browning, Interim Chief Administrative Officer, advised that this Strategic Planning session is part
of a series of meetings that have been held over the past two years to develop a report on the
'Shared Agenda - Strategic Initiatives'.
C. Ladd, General Manager of Strategic Services, advised that the objective of this meeting is to
review the draft Shared Agenda that was developed at the previous Strategic Planning session held
on April 19, 2004, and to present the Legal Services and Safety & Security Strategic Plans. Ms. Ladd
added that the session will conclude with a presentation of the results of the recently held Senior
Leadership Forum which took place off-site over a two day period and involved all members of the
Senior Management Team.
Ms. Ladd presented the draft Shared Agenda containing the corporate and strategic initiatives that
were established at the previous planning session. The initiatives were broken down into three time
periods, those to be completed in the first six months May to October 2004, those in the following
twelve months November 2004 - October 2005, and those to be completed in the last twelve months
November 2005 - December 2006. Ms. Ladd also presented the Administrative Agenda listing the
major departmental initiatives which were also broken down into the three time frames. Ms. Ladd
advised that by showing the two agendas together, Council has an opportunity to get a larger picture
of all the initiatives undertaken by staff at the moment and over the next two years.
General discussion on the Shared and Administrative Agendas took place. In answer to questions
that were raised regarding energy management G. Sosnoski, General Manager of Corporate
Services Department, advised that any grants that are available with respect to energy management
are being reviewed with the intent of obtaining the most appropriate grants that will give the best
return on the investment. He also advised that currently Breithaupt Community Centre is testing solar
energy to see if it is a feasible means of energy management which could be applied to other
facilities.
A concern was raised regarding the number of initiatives and the lack of capacity, staff and/or
resources to complete them as planned. It was suggested to review those initiatives that have yet to
be started to ascertain whether they could be shifted to a later time period. It was agreed that the
growth management initiatives some of which have already been started will continue but that it is
expected the initiatives will not be completed within the first six month time frame. It was also agreed
that with respect to school closings that staff will contact the two school boards to obtain information
on any upcoming closings which will dictate the most suitable time period for this initiative.
L. Macdonald, City Solicitor, and members of the Legal Services Division staff provided a
presentation on the Legal Services Strategic Plan. The plan outlined the current services, the current
strategic position within the Corporation and the future strategic directions for the Legal Services
Division.
In answer to questions raised by Council, Legal staff advised of the need to hire specialty legal
services such as for utilities and human resource issues. They also advised on the process
undertaken by planners when dealing with development applications to the City. Mayor C. Zehr
suggested that due to the size of the City of Kitchener there may be an obligation to lead or
JUNE 14, 2004
SPECIAL COUNCIL MINUTES
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CITY OF KITCHENER
participate in some of the initiatives and work group undertaken by the Association of Municipalities of
Ontario.
G. Sosnoski provided a presentation on the Safety and Security Strategic Plan outlining the current
services undertaken throughout the Corporation, the strategic position with respect to safety and
security and future strategic directions to ensure appropriate balance between safety, security and
service in environments and structures used by City employees and the public.
Councillor G. Lorentz entered the meeting.
S. Adams, Director of Community Programs and Services, provided a review of the leadership
principles developed by the General Managers and Directors at a Senior Management Team
workshop held in May.
M. Grummett, Director of Information Technology Services, gave a presentation on the status of the
Corporate Plan and the proposed Customer Contact Centre. He advised that the consultant is
currently working on the feasibility study for the Contact Centre and staff will present a report to
Council in August, 2004.
Councillor M. Galloway enquired as to the number of strategic plans that have been developed
recently. Ms. C. Ladd responded that so far seven corporate plans have been developed and that
staff is now looking to developing departmental operational plans. Councillor Galloway raised a
concern regarding the terminology used with the strategic plans suggesting that initiatives developed
without consultation with all stakeholders and only giving the current status and future direction is not
necessarily a strategic plan. Ms. Ladd agreed that in some cases the initiatives should be called
internal strategies and that strategic plans should be those of a corporate nature in which all
stakeholders are consulted giving long term strategies for a particular initiative.
On motion, the meeting adjourned at 4:11 p.m.
MAYOR CLERK