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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBusiness & Ind - 1994-02-10BIAC\1994-02-10 BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1994 PRESENT: Mike Hiscott (Chah'), David l~'eure, Wayne Hussey, Jim McCutcheon, Claude Schneider, Councillor Mike Wagner, Councillor Christina Weylie, and Councillor Carl Zehr ALSO PRESENT: Valerie Gibaut~ George Borovilos, and Jane Jantzi REGRETS: Martha George, Dan Beach, Tito Guglielmi, Atso Saarkoppel, and John Tibbits RECORDER: Sandy Curzon 1. Minutes of January 13, 1994 The minutes of January 13, 1994 were adopted Land Sales Update V. Gibaut updated the Committee on the Canada Fineblanking relocatio~ The company have had to redesign theh' new building and will be reviewing both sites to determine which is the most suitable, kVhx Gibaut advised that she has been attempting to contact the General Manager, but so far has only been able to talk to theh' real estate agent. It has been made clear that both municipalities are fah'ly flexible with current land prices and all other variables ( e.g. access to highways) were equal for both site~ It was agreed that staff would continue to keep in touch and offer further assistance ff needed. C. Schneider offered to discuss the matter with the local Plant Manager whom he knows personally and attempt to gather more inlbrmatiom b) J. Jantzi reviewed current enquiries with Committee: ST Development who own property at 109 McBrine Place are currently asking $195,000 per acre for theh' property which has discouraged a recent prospect and thereby makes larger parcels of City owned land that much more BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE - MINUTES att~'active. The City is awaiting an offer from John Whitney, Whitney Somme~eld for site 130 tn Huron Business ParlL It was agreed that because of the size of the lots once sub-divided, it was tn the City's best interest to have one person, such as Nh'. Whitney, handle the development c) C. Schneider intbrmed Committee that he is currently deaJing with a company who must vacate theh' existing facility which it has outgrow~ He asked fl' there was flexibility tn the conditions as set out tn the City of Kflchener's Offer to Purchase with regard to building within two years from closing. It was pointed out by staff that for legal reasons, clauses tn Offers to Purchase must remain, however there are instances where extensions have been approved tn the time tn which a building must be const~cte& Action C. Schneider to contact the company in question to get in touch with development staff Mike Wagner entered meeting 3. Continuous Improvement Process V. Gibaut brought Committee up to date on the progress the CH) meetings are taking. Even though the process has been slow she leek that progress k being made. All current steps have been identified and reviewed, steps that have been identified as non-value have been either eliminated or reduced. Economic Development Division February 10, 1994. BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE - MINUTES Committee discussed the role of the Planning Department and whether or not they were providing the necessary service to the customer, or under the current system are they acting as regulators of the process~ A check hst which is not currently provided was suggested as an alternative to assist the applicant thi'ough the process if verbal communication was not enoug]~ Action V. Gibaut to ensure that the Committee members be invited to the presentation of the CIP team when the project is completetk 4. Taxes and Assessment }VL Hiscott referred to the article attached to the agenda on the Report Card on Ontario's Municipalities~ C. Zehi' commented on the various confidence ranges associated with taxes and education costs~ It appears that whether or not a municipality/region individually scores high or low, business is concerned that taxes are still to high, and it is important to reduce taxes to make the area more competitive. D. Freure entered the meeting. Taking into account the available inlbrmation on taxation, the committee felt that Waterloo Region provides a high level of service for the taxes~ no worse that any other regio~ However, the problem is the lack of marketing about the services provided for your tax dollar. Samples of this lack of marketing were give~ G. Borovilos commented that it is important to ensure that indust~qal/commercial taxes are comparable to other like municipalities within a regional govel~m~ent setting. In this way, like services can be compared in relation to the established mill rates Economic Development Division February 10, 1994. BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE - MINUTES It was noted that the Regional Assessment office is reluctant to educate the pubhc on evaluating property taxe~ Councillor Wagner commented that tax assessment concerns appears to be a problem that no one wants to deal wit]~ By pursuing tax issues and becoming more educated on the assessment of business taxes, a better understanding and hopefully solution can be provided_ Action V. Gibaut to obtain a copy of report from Ken Seiling, Regional Chairman comparing tax rates for distribution and discussion at a future meeting of Committee. Wayne Hussey entered meeting 5. Development Charges Councillor Zehi' intbrmed Committee, that City Council agreed to amend the current by-law for "a one-time exemption of the Development Charge for the fhst addition of up to 5,000 sq. ft of non-residential building on a temporary basis until a revised Development Charge By-law k adopted". It was noted that the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber of Commerce has not yet had the opportunity to provide any feedback with regard to this amendment Action V. Gibaut to advise the K-W Chamber of Commerce of the amendment to the by-law and to discuss with the City Clerk the lost revenue being absorbed through new assessment to ensure there will be no loss of revenue. W. Hussey added that Oktobe~est Inc. is a member of the Woolwich Chamber of Commerce. They are presently attempting to eliminate all development charge~ The Committee concluded that in reality it is possible to eliminate indust~qal development charges, but not Economic Development Division February 10, 1994. BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE - MINUTES likely residential development charge~ V. Gibaut presented an article from East Yorl~ Discussion centred around the legahty of bonusing which is what East York is doing. 6. Other Business W. Hussey made a presentation regarding a Corporate Economic Development PI'oposal between Oktoberfest and Kitchener to increase the economic development potential of the Festival The proposal centres around inviting key corporate and business prospects with the potential to increase theh' business activity in the City, to an exclusive Oktoberfest activity. It would include a one night/one day time frame (midweek). W. Hussey will be making a presentation to the Planning and Economic Development Committee at the February 28th meeting and asking for support for this concept. It was presumed that funds would be allocated from the Economic Development Marketing budget. ~VL Hiscott congratulated Valerie Gibaut on her appointment to the Board of Dh'ectors for the Economic Developers Council of Ontario (EDCO), the Committee also congratulated Valerie. Meeting adjourned 1:06 pm Next Meeting: Thursday, March 10, 1994 11:00 mm. - 1:00 p.m. Council Caucus, ~nd Floor, Kitchener City Hall Economic Development Division February 10, 1994. BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE - MINUTES Economic Development Division February 10, 1994.