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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDowntown Action - 1995-07-13DAC\1995-07-13 KITCHENER DOWNTOWN ACTION COMMITTEE July 13, 1995 The Kitchener Downtown Action Committee met this date under the Chairmanship of Councillor Karen Redman with the following members present: Karen Taylor-Harrison, Brian Hunsberger, Karen Simoneau, Robert Braun, Randy Jackson, Beth Christensen, Doug Marshman, Michelle Morissetti, Birgit Heilig, Lilian Kehl, Nancy Brawley, David Ryan Others Present: T. 13rock Stanley, Sybil Frenette, Rita Westbrook, Ken Tribby, Tom McKay, Catherine Heal and Hans Schilling 1. OPENING REMARKS Councillor Karen Redman announced that she would be chairing the meeting on the behalf of Councillor Mark Yantzi. Councillor Yantzi was unable to attend the meeting due to a family emergency. 2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA ~ July 13, 1995 In the meeting that was held on June 8, 1995, t3. Stanley suggested a presentation could be given on the overview of the City structure. B. Stanley announced that he would not be able to give that presentation because he had to attend another meeting after the DAC meeting. Moved by R. Braun Seconded by K. Taylor-Harrison That the Agenda of July 13, 1995 be accepted. CARRIED 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES ~ June 8, 1995 B. Hunsberger stated that although he agreed with the comments made in the 7th, 8th and 13th paragraphs in Section 5. Mayor's Task Force Update he did not make any of the statements. B. Heilig took ownership of those statements at the end of the meeting. Moved by B. Hunsberger 2 Seconded by R. Westbrook That the Minutes of the meeting of June 8, 1995 be accepted with the amendment to the ownership of the statements made in the 7th, 8th and 13th paragraphs in section 5 from B. Hunsberger to B. Heilig. CARRIED 4. FINAL MAYOR'S TASK FORCE REPORT S. Frenette, Administrative Director of the Mayor's Task Force, explained that the Task Force's Final Report was tabled at Council on July 4 at a Special Council Meeting in which the Task Force's Report was the sole agenda item. The report was approved in principle. Staff will provide their input on the report with Council by the next Council meeting (August 14, 1995) for consideration. In order to maintain the momentum that the Task Force has established, Council has asked that special attention be given to the last three recommendations (#45, 46 & 47). Council appointed Sybil Frenette as the Downtown Director, David Corks as the Downtown Planner and George Borovilos as the Business Developer. All three of them are existing city staff. Staff was also instructed to proceed with the hiring of the events co-ordinator. The report was referred to Management Committee and the Kitchener Downtown Action Committee for input. Two amendments were made by Council to the reports recommendations #19 & 45. A copy of the minutes of the Council meeting is attached here. Council also decided that a communication officer who would communicate information about the whole city, not just downtown is need; however Council has not decided whether this position would be filled by existing staff or be a new one. Council needs to know the implications of shifting resources. Management Committee met on July 11, 1995 to discuss the report. Work has been assigned to different departments and the lC, DBA. S. Frenette then explained the structure of the report. 47 recommendations are listed in the report. Leadership, partners, timing, priority and target of each recommendation are outlined. S. Frenette apologized for the delay in the circulation of the report. She suggested that DAC members read the report (see attached) and be prepared to provide input in the next meeting. Recommendations from this committee on the report will then be taken to Council. K. Taylor-Harrison questioned about the timing and the procedure of bringing input from DAC members to Council. T. McKay suggested that the only recommendations that are being proceeded are #45, 46 and 47. Those three recommendations are directly related to the management structure of downtown - 170 - initiatives. Members of DAC are welcomed to provide their inputs to Council prior to the next Council meeting on August 14, 1995. R. Braun suggested that this committee should have a meeting early August in order to have members' opinions submitted to Council prior to the next Council meeting. T. McKay suggested that most of the recommendations are issues that have been discussed before and that members of this committee might be able to comment on them immediately. K. Simoneau replied that she was not comfortable with responding on behalf of the Social Planning Council without consulting other members first. B. Heilig seconded the suggestion of having a meeting in August. All members present then agreed to have a meeting on August 3, 1995 to deal specifically with the Mayor's Task Force final Report. M. Morissetti expressed concern about the importance of changing attitude. She believes that the negative attitude that exists will undermine the effectiveness of all other initiatives to promote downtown. The retial consultant, for example, has to believe in the importance of changing attitude and has to have a positive attitude towards downtown. S. Frenette replied that the consultants that have been short listed agree to the need of attitude change. She further suggested that input from members of DAC be reflected to Council directly by means of presentation. K. Taylor-Harrison believed that an attitude change has already started but the change has to extend to the East End and beyond Gaukel Street. K. Redman agreed that there needs to be a balance in attitude change. S. Frenette explained that in the Task Force Final Report, it is recommended that this committee becomes an advisory committee and be renamed Downtown Advisory Committee. It would still report to Council directly and be community based. She suggested its role of being an advisory body be clarified in the committee's terms of reference. In the last DAC meeting, committee members agreed they were more comfortable with an advisory role. K. Taylor-Harrison raised her concern about whether this committee has the opportunity to give its input before decisions are made by Council. She used the Task Force report as an example to illustrate the point that sometimes decisions are made before the committee has an opportunity to comment. K. Redman stated that this committee provides a community perspective that no other committees provide. She also felt that this committee has direct access to Council. - 171 - S. Frenette explained that the Task Force report only became a public document after it was tabled at Council and it was then referred to DAC by Council. S. Frenette felt that the committee has the opportunity to have input to Council before decisions are made in this case; however, the committee's terms of reference may be polished in terms of procedure. R. Braun agreed with S. Frenette that this committee has always been an advisory body and that the structure recommended by the Task Force allows a direct access to Council. T. McKay suggested that this committee continue to provide input on the development of downtown. This committee is not limited to commenting on the report, it can also add other suggestions that are not included in the report. 5. COMMUNITY STRATEGIC PLAN S. Frenette briefly reviewed the history of the community strategic plan. It was prepared by five community members. Eight areas of issues were identified such as safety, community development, media and business development. The plan was not complete when the Task Force was appointed. The Task Force built on the foundation provided by that plan and continued to develop another plan. The Task Force report is not a comprehensive strategic plan. Not all the eight disciplines are included in the Task Force report. S. Frenette suggested that members of this committee bring those ideas that are not included in the report back to the committee in September. Those comments will be used to create a community strategic plan that can be updated from time to time. N. Brawley echoed the comment that the Task Force report should not put an end to the downtown development process. On the contrary, the Task Force was a starting tool and created a momentum which needs to be maintained and work should continue. PROPOSED TERMS OF REFERENCE B. Stanley clarified that the terms of reference that was circulated together with the last set of minutes is the same one as the one that was considered in February this year. Section 2.1 It was agreed delegations should be made aware of the fact that this committee does not have the authority to make decisions. It was also agreed that the committee should continue to hear delegations but only for educational and communication purposes. Section 2.2 - 172 - A long discussion took place around the issue of whether this committee should administer the Downtown Kitchener Community Strategic Plan. Some felt that staff should be administering the plan and that the committee should only create the plan. Others felt that it all depends on how the word, "administration", is interpreted. It can include monitoring or overseeing the process in addition to the paper work. It was agreed at the end of the discussion since DAC members will be writing the plan, they should also oversee the administration of the plan once the plan is in place. (Refer to attachment for the revised terms of reference.) The issue of whether an annual review of the community plan should be done was raised. N. Brawley suggested that for budgetary reason September is a good time of year to do the annual review. It was agreed that the timing of review should be stated in the plan, not in the terms of reference. Section 2.5 It was suggested that the word "all" be deleted from this section. After a short discussion, it was decided the word should not be deleted. Section 3.1 t3. Stanley suggested the R. Westbrook's status be clarified. R. Westbrook asked whether the number of councillor~5~e too many. It was decided that it is an appropriate number. K. Taylor-Harrison also questioned how the representative from the arts and culture community should be chosen. N. Brawley explained that there are many branches within the arts and culture community. That makes it very difficult to choose one group that can represent all of them. The same applies to the multi-cultural community. She suggested that Waterloo Regional Arts Council be the representative of the arts and culture community because it plays the role of an umbrella group. A gentleman named Hans Schilling, President of Schilling Stained Glass Art Centre, showed interest of being the representative of the arts and culture community in Kitchener Downtown. With regard to the mulfi-cultural groups, K. Simoneau suggested that the Kitchener-Waterloo Mulfi-Cultural Centre be contacted as a starting point. Section 3.2 While K. Taylor-Harrison believed that the chairperson should be a member of Council, she questioned if the same must apply to the vice chairperson. It was agreed that the vice chairperson does not necessarily need to be a member of Council and therefore the words, "Vice-Chairman both of whom" will be deleted. R. 13raun introduced two members of the KDBA that might be new to members of this committee. - 173 - Randy Jackson is now on the marketing committee of the KDBA and Beth Christensen is the Business Development and communication Officer. 7. KDBA REPORT Retail Consultant A number of retail consultants have been interviewed and two of them have been short listed. Those two will be interviewed for the second time in the week of July 17, 1995. She hoped that a consultant can be selected by the end of July and she anticipated the retail action plan recommended by the Task Force to be completed within two months after a consultant is hired. Downtown Newspaper N. Brawley announced the latest edition of the Downtown Newspaper will be the last edition. The Fairway Group is planning to publish a community paper for Kitchener similar to Waterloo Chronicle. KDBA plans to incorporate downtown news into this new publication to avoid duplication. That should result in lower cost and wider circulation. The Fairway Group is currently searching for a downtown office location. Other KDBA Businesses The Canada Day Count Down and the Sidewalk Sale were both successful. There will be a Cruising Night on July 14. One hundred and fifty cars are anticipated. The Multi-Cultural Festival was successful. Two more corporated sponsors have been confirmed for the Mural Program. The King Street construction project is taking longer than planned but merchants are looking forward to the additional parking spaces. 8. OTHER BUSINESSES Event A: Community Christmas Bazaar Location: Market Hall at Market Square Date: November 26, 27 and 28, 1995 The organizer welcomes more vendors. Tables will be $20.00 per day. Contact: Lilian Kehl at 576~ 1946 for details Event B: Summer Festival - 174 - Location: Weber Park Date: August 20, 1995 Time: Noon to 6:00 p.m. Activities: Live entertainment, prizes, beer tent, food and children activities Organizer: Central Frederick Neighbourhood Association Tel: 576-5756 9. DATE FOR THE NEXT MEETING The next Kitchener Downtown Action Committee meeting will be held on August 3, 1995. be prepared to discuss the Mayor's Task Force Final Report at that meeting. Please 10. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 10:35 a.m. Catherine Heal Acting Committee Secretary