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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-02-16 DAAC Minutes Downtown Action & Advisory Committee Minutes Thursday, February16, 2023—4:00 p.m. Location: In Person, City Hall (Learning Room) In Attendance Ben Campbell,Brandon Van Dam, Joel Leslie, Jeanette Makad, Will Turman,Izabela Wyllie, Debbie Chapman, Darren Becks, Thea Mistry Meeting Called to Order: 4:05pm Disclosure of Pecuniary Interests: Nothing to declare Unanimous approval of the previous meeting’s minutes. Agenda Items 1. Welcome and Land Acknowledgment (5 mins) W. Turnman asked if DAAC members are permitted to personalize the land acknowledgement spoken at the start of the meeting, and to alternate which members read the land acknowledgement. W. Turnman introduced the context for today’s conversation about determining the direction and goals for DAAC. 3. Economic Development Priorities for 2023, Darren Becks (20 mins) Darren Becks, Downtown Development Manager for the City, provided an overview of the different projects that are Economic Development priorities in 2023, so that the committee can reflect on where they might want to get involved. The intention is to make DAAC’s work more committee-driven, intentional, and impactful. The presentation is appended below. Highlights from the discussion included the following: Councillor Chapman offered that this group could consider bringing their collective feedback not just to Economic Development staff, but to council. W. Turnman asked the group what is DAAC’s perspective? What is DAAC interested in providing feedback on? I. Wyllie posed the question, what happened in the past? How does the City use these committees to make change? W. Turnman – In past years, it was more informational. D. Becks – In 2022, DAAC had a workplan that was comprised of topics of interest, which drove the content of the meetings. B. Van Dam – It was challenging to understand what impact DAAC had. How do we move from advisory to action? W. Turnman - As a committee, DAAC could be more disciplined in formalizing feedback. Councillor Chapman – Can we see what the other committee’s workplan’s are? D. Becks highlighted a few areas where this group might want to get involved: - The Charles Street terminal (a Regional-led project) - Arts and Culture Plan - Innovation Arena - DTK Visioning - Gaukel Placemaking Project - Retail Attraction Strategy - The Market Strategy, including a pedestrian-first Eby Street and food incubator - SDG Lab W. Turnman asked about the transit hub (Regional, but definitely impacts the Downtown) Councillor Chapman asked about the Victoria Park master plan D. Becks suggested that Parks’ Places and Spaces strategy might be of interest when there is an update. 4. Work Plan Discussion (1 hour) W. Turnman highlighted the diversity of the Downtown community and asked that this group approach its work with awareness that the members of this group are of the dominant perspective. Shared tool: censusmapper.ca W. Turnman shared some of his learnings from the Advisory Committee Chair Training: - Quorum is 5 people. - The committee meetings are where we further the work. - A sub-committee must be less then quorum. - The voice of the committee is expressed through the minutes. W. Turnman’s thoughts about how DAAC should function: - Encourage group members to be engaged - Be more formal in making motions - Clarity in the agenda B. Campbell – It would be helpful going forwards to understand what the group is planning on discussing in the next meeting at the end of the previous meeting, so that the group knows how to prepare for an engaging discussion. I. Wyllie – It would be good to understand what we can realistically accomplish in the time that we have together. Councillor Chapman – When we talk about collective advice, we might not as a group be able to agree on every point. W. Turnman – A motion to pass is officially 5 people. There is space for disagreement or not to get caught up in the nitty gritty. D. Becks – Today if we have a sense of what the group is interested in, staff can go back and figure out the timelines of those projects. B. Van Dam – To make a motion as a committee, we need a fulsome understanding about the issue we are discussing. There might be topics that require more than one meeting. W. Turnman – Posed idea to divide meetings into themes. Theme Brainstorm: - Public space - Development - Events - Policy - Business D. Becks – What if the group shares specific interests, and that determines the buckets? What are members interested in? - Retail attraction strategy and supporting businesses downtown - DTK Visioning Initiative – engagement workshop next month (this might highlight additional themes that DAAC is interested in and inform the work plan) - The Market – active more than one day a week - Getting more people out in the streets - Livable Downtown - Vibrancy – how to attract people to congregate in Downtown (through events and spaces) - Public space and how it is used (Gaukel, Eby St.) - Innovation District master plan - How Downtown might address Homelessness (this might also come up as a part of all of these other discussions) – it would be helpful to know what initiatives are already in place as a starting point - The Charles Street terminal kept coming up as an area of interest W. Turnman – Members of the committee are permitted to bring in experts; that isn’t only the role of staff. B. Campbell – Helpful keep the scope of advice specific. The group isn’t expected to come up with a comprehensive solution to complex problems. D. Becks – The point of this group is to have open, productive dialogue. B. Van Dam – Next meeting – 60 minutes for DTK Visioning, 30 minutes for discussing how it informs the workplan. D. Becks – Staff will find out the timeline for the priorities identified in this meeting and will report back at the next meeting. 5. Terms of Reference discussion (15 mins) W. Turnman – How does the group feel about voting on motions and how strict should we be? J. Leslie –Likes the idea that we can vote on a group idea as a motion W. Turnman –Hopesand expectsthat members are present at meetings and willing to contribute to agenda items. I. Wyllie –Would like to understandwhat the end goal isof a discussion or a motion, andwhat happens after–would find that motivating.It helps to have a realistic perspective about what this group can accomplish. Discussion around meaningful work. B. Van Dam raised a motion to strike a sub-committee to work on reviewing and proposing updates to the Terms of Reference. Sub-committee will be comprised of B. Van Dam, I. Wyllie and J. Leslie. Motion passed unanimously. Group agreed to go 10 minutes over time to finish the discussion. Adjournment—5:43pm on motion by B. Van Dam Next Meeting: March 23, 2023,at 4 p.m. Presentation: