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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBusiness & Ind - 1996-07-11BIAC\1996-07-11 BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES THURSDAY, JULY 11, 1996 PRESENT: Mike Itiscott (Chah'), Klm Cowan, John Tibbits, David l~'eure, Larry Blundell, Jeff Morrison, John Hoffman, Elliott Currie, Dan Beach, Susan McConnell, Atso Saarkoppel, Councillors Tom Galloway, Berry Vrbanovic, Jake Smola~ and Chiqstina Weylie ALSO PRESENT: Valerie Gibau~ Jane Jantzi and Ian Cook RECORDER: Jane Jantzi Ian Cook - Green on the Grand Presentation Chairman IVL Itiscott introduced Nh'. I. Cook who then made a presentation to the committee on the benefits of a proposed land exchange between Ian Cook Consh~ction I,imited and the City of Kitchener. In Nh'. Cook's opinion the 9.86 acres of land, located on Pinnacle lhqve, would be an equal trade of 9.5 acres of land adjacent to Nh'. Cook's current property in the Lancaster Corporate Centre. A financial analysis, prepared by Nh'. Cook, based on tax revenue and development charge revenue was distributed to the committee. 3/ir. Cook's proposal concluded with the fact that interest in the Lancaster Corporate Centre k significant compared with the interest in the lands at Homer Watson/401 and rather than have two lots sit vacan~ this proposal gives the City the opportunity to create assessment and jobs on one of the sites Nh'. Cook was thanked for his proposal and left the meeting. Discussion re: Ian Cook's Proposal Dan Beach declared a conflict of interest with regard to the Ian Cook proposal and did not participate in the discussio~ BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE - MINUTES Discussion on the proposal covered many areas including the demand in Lancaster Corporate Centre versus the demand at Homer Watson and 401. The discussion concluded with the fact that John Gazzola, the City's Treasurer had reported to Valerie that the City is not in a position to do a proposal of this nature and hold onto more land for an indefinite period of time because of our long-term debt in the business park~ Larry Blundell proposed the following motion: "That Council reject the land proposal from Ian Cook Construction l,imited." The motion passed unanimously. CTT Restructuring - update Councillor Galloway requested that item four be discussed - the 'Leis Report' on how government should be restructured. Councillor Galloway gave a summary of the contents of the Leis Report for those committee members who may have not had the opportunity to read the report as yet. Valerie wanted the record to show that she was misquoted in Kitchener This Weelc Valerie stressed the fact that she welcomes any additional resources for economic developmenL however an~hing contemplated at the regional level should be coordinated through Canada's Technology Triangle. After discussion, committee members supported the CIT initiative as the primary vehicle for external promotion activities The committee was asked to consider the report and b~qng comments to the next Business and Industry Advisory Committee meeting. Minutes of June 13, 1996. The Minutes of June 13, 1996 were approved and adopted. Economic Development Division July 11, 1996. BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE - MINUTES 4. Economic Development Activities J. Jantzi presented the Summer edition of the Good News newsletter produced by students at Conestoga College and pKqnted at M&T Inst~Plqnt~ M~ Jantzi reported that the cost of pKqnting the newsletter was somewhat higher than pKqnting it in-house, but the turnaround time was cut by 10-14 working day~ Staff have considered using M&T Insta~Plqnt for other literature produced within the department. The quality of the jobs k far superior to in-house pKqnting and the timing, including "just-in-time" pKqnting at the same unit cost~ k extremely worthwhile. V. Gibaut reported on the recent visit from 4 representatives of the Dallas/Fort Worth arex The group approached C]~ as they are interested in a potential economic twinning relationship. C]~ staff spent one day with the delegation culminating in a "windshield" tour of each municipahty. While CT]~ has been invited to make a return visit~ it is recognized that economic twinning has not been identified as one of the target activities of C]~. While there might be benefits in such an alliance, more in-depth evaluation must take place prior to increasing activities in this arex V. Gibaut reported on the status of the economic partueK~hip with Karlsrnhe, Germany. She indicated that the Mayor k in the process of writing a letter to the Mayor of Karlsrnhe and that a t~qp k being planned for late September early October. V. Gibaut reported that recently two German companies looking to relocate to this area were presented to us by Bill Waite, former president of Siemen's International Nh'. Waite has been inst~qnnental in attracting German companies to our area and we are sorry to hear that he will be leaving this area and moving to Victoria as of August L 1996. V. Gibaut reported that we have experienced numerous investment enquiries from companies in British Columbia~ We have sent hundi'eds of copies of our literature and are quite excited that Kitchener seems to be the focal point for investment from British Columbia~ Recent news articles indicating that Kitchener has the lowest unemployment rate in the country have cont~qbuted to our popularity. Economic Development Division July 11, 1996. BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE - MINUTES J. Jantzi presented four different land sale analysis options for the Huron Business Parl~ M~ Jantzi has been negotiating an offer to purchase for the past thi'ee months and cannot come to an agreement on price. The purchaser will not offer anything higher than $75,000 per acre and our current sale price is $78,000 per acre. After presenting and discussing the four dilTerent options the committee made the following recommendation: "That the City of Kitchener accept an offer to purchase in Phase 1][[ of the Huron Business Park at $75,000 per acre." Councillor Jake Smola raised the issue that staff and Council are currently prepa~qng pro- forma budget~ Taxes were raised 1.37o last year and so far Council has not taken a fh~n stand to target a 070 increase. Councillor Smola inlbrmed the committee that Mississauga has had a 070 increase for the past couple of years and uses this as an integral part of theh' marketing effort. Councillor Smola requested input as this committee represents the voice of business in the community. The unatiimous recommendation of the committee was as follows "That a 570 or more tax reduction without a loss of any services be achieved." Meeting adjourned at 1:00 pm Next Meeting: Thursday, September IQ, 1996 11:00 am - 1:00 pm City of Kitchener, Council Caucus Room City Hall, ~nd Floor Economic Development Division July 11, 1996. BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE - MINUTES Economic Development Division July 11, 1996.