HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-05-22 EDAC Minutes
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES
May 22, 2019 City of Kitchener
A meeting of the Economic Development Advisory Committee was held at 11:02am this date,
chaired by M. Bingeman, and vice-chaired by B. Whittaker, with all members present, except
M. Blunt and L. Stojanoski.
STAFF:
H. Abel, Manager of Downtown Community Development
B. Bennett, Manager of Business Development
C. Bluhm, Executive Director of Economic Development
V. Boyle, Economic Development Assistant
V. Bradford, Business Development Officer
L. Chlumsky, Economic Development Analyst
L. Connor, Economic Researcher
Information Items
1. Development Charges: B. Bennett, Manager of Business Development
B. Bennett provided an overview of the Development Charges (DC) update process that is
taking place due to R. Hagey being unable to attend the meeting. B. Bennett explained that
DCs are fees imposed on new developments to fund growth related costs for new
infrastructure to maintain service levels within growth areas. B. Bennett explained that DCs
have strict rules regarding what they can and cannot be used for. B. Bennett explained that
this rate update takes place every 5 years, each review requires an extensive background
study. B. Bennett overviewed that DCs have been increasing in many municipalities over the
last two years that can be attributed to a multitude of factors including construction costs rising
faster than indexing or base inflation, increases in land values, and the devaluation of the
Canadian Dollar.
A. Head asked about the steering committee for the DC review process and whether it had
anyone from the Homebuilders society on it. B. Bennett explained that the steering committee
1
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES
May 22, 2019 City of Kitchener
is an internal committee with staff from different departments within the municipality but the
stakeholder committee which is made of up public stake holders does have representation on
it.
B. Bennet went over the price increases for DCs for suburban, residential and industrial lands.
B. Bennett also noted that industrial lands will no longer receive a discount on DCs as has
been seen in the past. Previous demolition credits will still be honoured up to 10 years for
residential and 20 for non-residential for any that were put forward before the bylaw change
moving forward credits will be 5 years for residential and 10 years for non-residential.
B. Bennett gave a brief update about Bill 108 that is being put forward by the provincial
government which could have a significant impact on our DC process.
Individual committee members discussed the DC changes, some asked questions and stated
opinions. The chair, M. Bingeman attempted to form a consensus so that the committee could
put forward a recommendation to Council however there was no consensus among the
committee and thus no recommendation was brought forward.
2. Attract and Retain Talent in Tech in Waterloo Region: S. Weber, Director University
Relations, Wilfred Laurier University
S. Weber presented for a masters group of students from Wilfred Laurier that is researching
talent retention and attraction for tech in Waterloo region. S. Weber explained that the student
group has been investigating success stories in other communities they have uncovered a
multitude of principles that the will be spending more time diving into these principles include
job opportunities, transportation, availability of cultural and social activities, short commute
time.
S. Weber explained that the group is also interested in how they can improve the co-op
program and experiential learning at universities as a way to engage students within the
2
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES
May 22, 2019 City of Kitchener
broader community to help them create ties to the community to encourage them to stay
beyond graduation.
S. Weber suggested that as the group gets further into research the masters students could
come and do an update. S. Weber also suggested that if anyone on the committee is
interested in getting involved to contact her.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:04pm.
3