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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBusiness & Ind - 1995-12-14BIAC\1995-12-14 BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1995 PRESENT: Councillor, Tom Galloway (Acting Chah'), Councillor Berry Vrbanovic, Bob C~ickshank~ Atso Saarkoppel, Elliott Currie, John Tibbits, John Bingeman, Councillor Jake Smola~ Jeff Morris, John Hoffman, l,inda Kieswetter, Larry Blundell and l(im Cowan ALSO PRESENT: Valerie Gibaut RECORDER: Sandy Curzon Councillor Tom Galloway assumed the chah' 1. Appointment of Chair and Vice Chair Moved by Councillor Berry Vrbanovic Seconded by Councillor Jake Smola That Mike Hiscott be appointed as Chairperson for 1996. Carried Moved by Councillor Berry Vrbanovic Seconded by Atso Saarkoppel That Carl Zehr be appointed as Vice-Chairperson for 1996. Carried In absence of the newly nominated Chah' and Vice Chah; Messr~ Vrbanovic and Galloway co-chah'ed the meeting. BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE - MINUTES Minutes of November 9, 1995 Minutes of November 9, 1995 were approved and adopted l,inda Kieswetter and Elliott Currie entered the meeting 3. Meeting Date Schedule After discussing various options, Committee agreed that starting in February 1996 meetings be held every second Thursday of the month, 11:00 am to lpn~ The January meeting has been scheduled for January 18t]~ Meeting dates for 1996: January 18th; February 8th; March 14th; Apx4l llth; May 9th; June 13th; July llth; August 8th; September 19th; October 10th; and November 14tl~ Valerie raised the issue of costs for lunch - $9,000 for the year which seems fah'ly excessive. Several alternatives were discusseck It was decided that in view of the fact the City has new cafeteria management as of January 1996, we should discuss with them how to reduce costs and possibly eliminate some of the selections being provide& 4. Review of Issues for 1996 V. Gibaut brielqy reviewed the following issues which will be priority items for 1996: Industrial Land - at the Capital Budget meeting, it was noted that the City is paying $1 million per year in interest on capital debt for the Huron Business Parle Council raised the question of how we could dispose of the land more quickly, thereby reducing interest cost~ Staff have been requested to consider the options available to us and submit a report to City Council within the fhst quarter of 1996. To facilitate discussion in this respect~ it was suggested that staff from the Finance Department be available at the next meeting to review the indust~qal park financial picture. b) Development Charges - as the PI'ovince will be considex4ug new legislation with respect to this Act~ it was suggested that we should review our options and provide an opinion to the staff tean~ c) Victoria Street Zoning - there appears to be some inconsistencies with respect to the zoning with respect to retail propertie~ Some investment opportunities have been lost Economic Development Division December 14, 1995. BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE - MINUTES due to this situatio~ V. Gibaut suggested that Carla Ladd be invited to the next meeting to explain the zoning on Victoria Street. International Twinning Opportunities - V. Gibaut advised that as a result of her presentation to the House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade and Foreign Allah% the question of economic twinning was raised agai~ It is apparent that other municipalities are becoming heavily involved in twinning relationships thi'oughout the world which results in economic benefits to then~ V. Gibaut is proposing that we revisit our twinning initiative and she reminded committee of the study prepared by the kaurier Trade Development Centre outlining specific geographic areas with economies similar to Kitchener as potential prospects for twinning arrangement~ V. Gibaut mentioned that Germany is the most logical country as we ah'eady have many business relationships there. Several issues were raised such as maintaining a close working relationship with the Consulate offices in Germany; inviting them to our Oktoberfest event; using local business people who have contacts in Germany; working with the German/Canadian business organi zation~ It was also suggested that a fhst step in economic twinning should be with the City of Waterloo. e) Terms of Reference Moved by Jake Smola Seconded by Atso Saarkoppel That the Terms of Reference reflect the addition of the appointment of a Downtown Representative which was approved at City Council (date). Carried 5. Other Business Economic Development Division December 14, 1995. BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE - MINUTES b) c) e) Call Centre - V. Gibaut provided a brief overview of the purpose of call centres and the proposal being negotiated with Peter BerczL The proposal includes a $395.00 per day consultant fee paid by the City for a t~qal period of 6 months Il' M~'. Berczi is successful in b~qnging a client to an owner, and is able to negotiate a flat referral rate, a portion of that fee will be reimbursed to the City. Lengthy di~ussion took place with respect to the issue of paying consultant fees with no resolution being made. V. Gibaut will update committee at the next meeting. Currently City staff are negotiating 95 acres of land in Huron Business Park with various interest groups City Council has approved of increasing the Passport to Success initiative with the City of Waterloo and K-W Oktoberfest Inc. conditional upon matching funds from the City of Waterloo. Operating Budgets are in the administrative review stage. V. Gibaut reviewed 1996 Marketing Pla~ It was pointed out that there are no changes to the $88,500 being allocated to marketing. V. Gibaut was asked to provide details of other municipalities' funding - amount allocated to Economic Development and marketing/ promotio~ J. Bingeman raised the issue of committee dealing with a broader range of issues instead of concent~'ating too much on industrial activities V. Gibaut agreed that there are many issues of a municipal nature which should be brought to the attention of the committee. More of an effort will be made to ensure that these items are not missed in the future. Councillor Vrbanovic sup~qested that George Borovilos attend meetings occasionally to provide an update of Downtown development activities Meeting adjourned 1:10 pm Next Meeting: Thursday, January 18, 1995 11:00 am - 1:00 pm Council Caucus Room, ~nd Floor Kitchener, City Hall Economic Development Division December 14, 1995.