Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutDowntown Advisory - 1999-09-09DAC\1999-09-09 KITCHENER DOWNTOWN ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES September 9, 1999 The Kitchener Downtown Advisory Committee met this date under the Chairmanship of Councillor Mark Yantzi with the following members present: Councillor Karen Taylor- Harrison, Nancy Brawley, Denise Strong, Anita Petsche Good, Tom Brennand, Peggy Walshe, David Gowland, Ruth Tomlinson, Peter Walberg, Trudy Beaulne, Mike Peng, Howard Rotberg and Neil Carver. Others Present: Brock Stanley, George Borovilos, Terry Boutilier, Brian Wolfe, Jim Witmer, Lorna Ferguson, Debbie Schlichter, Chris Cowie and Grant Nixon. Regrets: Mayor Carl Zehr, Councillor Berry Vrbanovic, Howard Marr, Mary Coleman, Mary Drandzyk, Denise Shelbourne, Regis Coladipietro, Greg Kett and Staff Sgt. Gary Askin. 1. APPROVAL OF AGENDA- SEPTEMBER 9, 1999 The Agenda for the September 9th meeting was approved. Moved by: Nancy Brawley Seconded by: Trudy Beaulne CARRIED 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - JULY 8, 1999 It was moved that the minutes of the July 8, 1999 meeting be approved. Moved by: Nancy Brawley Seconded by: Trudy Beaulne CARRIED 3. MILLENNIUM PROJECT Lorna Ferguson attended the meeting to bring the committee up-to-date on some projects that are being planned for the millennium. The Millennium Selection and Steering Committee started in the spring of this year. Lorna's position is a contract position effective until 2001. The committee was developed to find and encourage millennium programs that would be funded by the provincial and/or federal governments. The deadline for submission for the Ontario program was September 1st 75 The programs will be officially announced once the funding is approved. They have been working with P&R regarding Festival of the Night. The Festival will be expanded and will become part of the "beacon project" around the world. More volunteers are needed. There is an initiative through K-W Tourism to re-enact the arrival of settlers in Conestoga wagons from the U.S. There is also a millennium run where water from the 3 oceans will travel across the country to a millennium fountain in Ottawa. Nancy asked if there was a calendar of events or a booklet that would inform everyone about the various events and when they were happening. It had been discussed, but no decision was made. The Record has agreed to have a "Millennium Column" to let people know what is happening. If you require any further information or want applications for federal funding, contact Lorna @ 741-2389. 4. HOMELESSNESS REPORT Committee members had already received the executive summary. Trudy handed out a one-page summary and reviewed the highlights. It is difficult to capture all the numbers. The number of homeless women is higher than in other areas. We need to stop talking about it and start doing something about it. Trudy questioned what the next step was for this group. What might get started from DAC? It was noted that most of the shelters were in Kitchener. Howard Rotberg feels that we should shame Waterloo. They want to dump all their problems on Kitchener. Are we housing an unfair proportion of Waterloo's homeless? They should shelter their fair share. Debbie stated that a large number of people we shelter come from outside the region, but the majority are from Kitchener. We don't want to see more shelters, we want a solution. Nancy mentioned that we need to encourage a variety of districts for shelters, not just downtown. How can we encourage the rest of the region to start doing something -we need a long-term solution. Peggy found the report fascinating. We have already made progress by dispelling some of the myths. We need to get the significant facts out and let people know that what is happening in the homeless community now is different than 10-15 years ago. Denise feels that we need to make family counselling more accessible and affordable. Debbie informed the committee that they are trying to pull together different stakeholders to find solutions to the problem and investigate prevention. She will keep us posted - DAC could link in with this forum. Howard feels that the committee should make a motion or statement regarding affordable housing. What can the City do to assist the private sector in building affordable housing? There are too many roadblocks. We need to have more affordable land, servicing costs should be more flexible, and the environmental remediation of sites is too costly. Karen feels there needs to be more support services for people. Social agencies are not always there in support. We need to keep people in the housing they already have. We can't just build housing, you have to have the support services as well. 76 Trudy mentioned that there might be a need to bring further information to this committee. She suggested that we invite Sybil to one of our meetings to see what the Region is doing. It was decided that "Response to Homelessness in the Downtown Core" be an ongoing item on future agendas. 5. POSTERING DOWNTOWN Terry Boutilier had appeared before DAC in July with an update and strategy regarding problems with postering downtown. Some good ideas were received and he has done some investigating. One of the ideas received from DAC was to involve the John Howard Society. Terry contacted them and they are very keen on getting involved. They have 125-140 members who have community time to serve. The City's sign by- law enforcement officer would tag and identify the illegal posters, then the members of the JHS would remove them once a week. Our Legal Department is working on a formal agreement with the John Howard Society. Removal would also apply to private property not just City property. They hope to work out an arrangement with the City, John Howard Society, KDBA, Canada Post, the Region and K-W Hydro. Brian Wolfe has contacted a number of manufacturers that supply products that prevents glue/tape from permanently marking fixtures and makes removal easier. He will continue to pursue to see if we can have the product applied to all our fixtures. The committee has also decided to install kiosks at limited locations throughout downtown to centralize the posters. Terry asked Grant Nixon if Parks & Rec could help identify some areas where kiosks would be appropriate. The kiosks could be monitored to allow us to control the number and types of posters and to allow us to remove them on a regular basis. Denise would like to see samples of the kiosks. She would like to get a prototype for the Walper. They have a lot of literature that could be displayed for their guests. They would also be a good idea for other hotels and banks. Trudy mentioned that the Community Information Centre is always looking for places where information could be posted. Anita asked if this initiative could be expanded to deal with graffiti. Jim Witmer informed her that there is a company that has produced a new product that seals surfaces and makes the removal of graffiti much easier. The quicker we are in removing the graffiti the better. The company is prepared to do a pilot demonstration for the city. There is still a lot of work to be done. The City will still proceed with prosecution for illegal postering. They would like discussions between our Legal Department and the John Howard Society to be finalized by the fall. Terry would then come back to this committee and Finance & Admin Committee with a recommendation. 77 The committee felt this was an excellent initiative. Peter wanted to commend the City for approaching the John Howard Society. The John Howard Society has asked that the initiative not be too highly publicized due to confidentiality to their clients. Terry read the following proposed resolution to the committee: That staff of the Business & Planning Services and Legal Departments pursue and confirm arrangements with an outside service agency to regularly remove posters from the downtown area; and pursue the installation of a number of kiosks in the downtown area as the approved venue for posters, and that a full report on revised procedures be presented to the DAC and Finance & Admin Committees in the Fall of 1999. Moved by: Nancy Brawley Seconded by: Trudy Beaulne CARRIED 6. DOWNTOWN KITCHENER WEST SIDE CONNECTION STUDY This study was undertaken to improve access to downtown from the west side of Kitchener. A consultant was hired to help find a solution. It was found that the following improvements to existing roadways would help: 1) Widen Victoria St.S. to four lanes between Charles and Lawrence; 2) Mark a third centre turning lane along Queen from Highland to Charles; and 3) Conduct 6 strategic intersection improvements - Queen/Mill/Schneider, Highland/Queen, Ottawa/Courtland, Ottawa/Charles, and Stirling/Courtland. It is hoped that these improvements will also help to eliminate short cuts through Victoria Park. Tom Brennand asked if they ever thought about making intersection improvements at "5 Points" (Krug/CedadLancaster/Weber). It is a very dangerous, awkward intersection. Terry mentioned that everyone knows about the dangers, therefore are very careful and there are very few accidents at this location. David Gowland expressed his concern regarding Victoria St. becoming 4 lanes. He has never seen a 4-lane street that has improved housing starts on any street, he used Weber St. as an example. He asked if any studies had been done. Terry responded that he is not aware of any study. Nancy stated that the people living on Victoria St. have been asking for improvements for a long time. There are dangerous problems as it stands and this is the least impacting. Trudy mentioned that there is a lane way behind the homes that could be used for their access and should be looked at. Chris Cowie asked about improvements to the Queen/Mill/Schneider intersection. The plan is to re-align Mill and Schneider to bring them closer together so there isn't such an offset. If this doesn't work, they could ban left turns from Queen onto Schneider. Trudy asked if this Committee could make recommendations on downtown roads to help protect neighbourhoods. We need to identify transition areas and the impact of traffic on residential areas. "Transitional Neighbourhoods" will be added to a future agenda. 7. UPDATE BY DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT TEAM George Borovilos updated the committee on what he will be doing over the next couple of weeks. Interviews will be conducted to fill current vacancies, his first priority is to fill the position of Manager of Downtown & Market Research. He is glad to be back at the City of Kitchener, and has seen very positive results downtown over the last 3 years. He reviewed some highlights that David Corks had provided to him: Nordia Call Centre will be opening soon in Market Square, Market Village redevelopment continues, and the 72 Victoria St. office development is moving along. 8. KDBA REPORT Nancy informed the committee that the staff situation at the KDBA is now stabilized. Molly Green is General Manager, Amber Panchen is the Marketing Assistant, and Barb Thompson is the Admin Assistant. The Downtown Jazzy Fashion Fundraiser will be held at the 4 Points on September 22nd, tickets are $12. The Marketing Committee is working on a "Shop Downtown" incentive for downtown residents. The Christmas ornament for this year will be part of a numbered series in order to become a collectors item. They are in the process of applying to expand their boundaries. This will substantially increase their membership and will be better for the KDBA and the DDT. Howard feels that the proposed new boundary doesn't go far enough. His definition of the boundary is an average 30 minute walk of King & Queen. Downtown boundaries will be discussed at a future meeting. The KDBA web-site is up and running. They have had several inquiries on events. The address is www.kitchenerdowntown.com. 9. NEIGHBOURHOOD ASSOCIATION UPDATES David Gowland - His neighbourhood has had a very busy/hectic summer. It is not acceptable to have prostitutes in front of your home or drug dealers next door. The neighbourhood has had several meetings and will continue to fight. They have had excellent support from the police. The group will be meeting next Wednesday from 7:00-9:00 at the KPL to discuss what needs to be done. Any suggestions or concrete ideas committee members have to offer would be appreciated. They are not going to accept the status quo. This has to stop. ?9 The chess idea is going forward. We should see something in front of City Hall by the fall. The planters downtown look excellent. The conversion to two-way traffic is an excellent success. David was one of two reps from DAC who volunteered to help with the visioning process for the City, but he has not been contacted yet. Peter Walberg - The Central Frederick Assoc. Summer Festival was an overwhelming success. The association received $500 from Friends of the Environment (Canada Trust) to plant trees in Weber Park. They received an anonymous donation of $700 as well. The association is on an e-mail list serve. They have sent packages to all NA reps on DAC to see if they are interested in being on the list as well. It would be a good way to communicate between neighbourhood associations. Trudy Beaulne -There are two groups set up on e-mail in her neighbourhood, but not everyone can afford the computers. They are still dealing with space issues. They have completed an inventory of available space and the costs. Right now they are using space at St. Marks Lutheran Church even though it is outside their neighbourhood. Festival of Neighbourhoods is scheduled for September 19th (~ 12:30 - 24 neighbourhoods are registered. The Safety Audit Study is going like gangbusters and will be made public soon. There has been more talk about whether incorporation is needed - $ will be needed to create an agency for neighbourhood associations. Their carnival was very successful and movie night will be starting shortly. The meeting adjourned at 10:45 am Carol Robinson, Committee Secretary LIST OF ATTACHMENTS 1. Understanding Homelessness in Waterloo Region - The Backgrounder Report