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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCAO-2024-525 - KW Joint Service Initiatives Committee - 2024 UpdateStaff Report a Chief Administrator's Office REPORT TO: Committee of the Whole DATE OF MEETING: December 16, 2024 Ki - NFIR wwwkitchener.ca SUBMITTED BY: Margaret Love, Director, Strategy and Corporate Performance, 519- 783-8951 PREPARED BY: Margaret Love, Director, Strategy and Corporate Performance, 519- 783-8951 WARD(S) INVOLVED: All Wards DATE OF REPORT: November 8, 2024 REPORT NO.: CAO -2024-525 SUBJECT: K -W Joint Service Initiatives Committee - 2024 Update RECOMMENDATION: For information. REPORT HIGHLIGHTS: • The report provides Council an update on joint service initiatives between Kitchener and Waterloo. • Of four joint initiatives undertaken over the last year, one was completed and three will continue in 2024; one new initiative will begin in 2025. • There are no financial implications associated with this report. • The community was informed by posting of the report to the City's website with the agenda in advance of the Council meeting, and current information on the joint services page of the City's website. • This report supports the delivery of core services. BACKGROUND: This report provides Council an update on Joint Service Initiatives between Kitchener and Waterloo. The two Cities have an established history of collaboration, and a formalized approach through the Kitchener -Waterloo Joint Services Initiatives Committee (JSIC) for over 16 years. The JSIC seeks to maximize effectiveness and efficiency of resources and service delivery, collaborate on strategic initiatives, and build capacity from best practices — all to benefit residents in both cities. Over 80 joint service initiatives have been undertaken, with some formally completed and others continuing as part of ongoing operations and service delivery. Staff track progress of the initiatives including service improvements, efficiencies and cost savings achieved, which are reported to Council annually. Page 38 of 42 REPORT: Annual joint service initiatives are identified in the fall for the upcoming year by the JSIC (the CAOs and senior leadership teams of each municipality) by selecting several initiatives which best: • Enhance the ability of either city to deliver or develop a service or program outside of its resources, • Create service -level improvements, while maintaining costs or producing future savings, • Provide operational and/or capital opportunities, and/or • Feature best practices of one or both organizations. 2024 Joint Services Initiative Accomplishments One initiative was successfully completed and three will continue into 2025; key accomplishments and progress updates are highlighted below. Vision Zero: COMPLETED with collaboration to continue as part of ongoing operations and core service delivery • Vision Zero is a strategy to eliminate traffic fatalities and severe injuries while increasing safe, healthy, equitable mobility for all; this joint service initiative is about adopting the philosophy of Vision Zero and implementing strategies focused on engineering, evaluation and education. • Both cities continue to work on the coordination for the 30km/h and 40km/h speed limits along municipal boundary roads, which has led to an overall reduction in operating speeds on most neighbourhood streets. • Two new videos for pedestrian crossover education and aggressive driving have been developed; the last local Vision Zero video received 6 million impressions, demonstrating reach to a large audience. • A Vision Zero update report went to Kitchener Council in May 2024, including the next round of "hotspot" improvements and a list of Vision Zero 2024 construction work; videos were unveiled to Council at that time. • A total cost savings of $100,000 is estimated between 2022 - 2024 through cost sharing on research and educational campaigns/videos, and through grant contributions. • Staff will continue to work collaboratively on Vision Zero safety initiatives as part of core service delivery, however, this initiative will not be reported on in future JSIC annual reports. Page 39 of 42 Inclusionary Zoning — Affordable Housing: Continuing into 2025 • This multi-year initiative is assessing, through a coordinated approach, the impact and opportunity of Inclusionary Zoning within Protected Major Transit Station Areas. • Kitchener's Council approved its version of the shared Inclusionary Zoning policy Framework in March 2024 (Waterloo approved theirs in June 2024), and directed staff to undertake additional financial analysis and stakeholder consultation before the end of 2024. • The cities hired consultants to conduct a review of current market conditions to assess if implementation should be adjusted or delayed. • The cities met with development industry stakeholders to discuss market conditions in October 2024. • Staff will present a report to Kitchener Council in December (Waterloo Council in January 2025) to bring forward the market research and findings, highlights from the development industry consultation and make a recommendation regarding pausing or continuing with implementation in 2025. • An estimated cost savings of $120,000 is anticipated for Kitchener through joint funding of consultants, peer review, engagement, and financial modeling. Official Plan Comprehensive Reviews: Continuing into 2025 • The Cities of Kitchener and Waterloo are both undertaking comprehensive reviews and updates to their respective Official Plans. These key enabling land use planning strategies will guide future growth and development across the communities and it is important to pursue them in a coordinated manner and toward consistent frameworks and outputs. • Kitchener launched Phase 1 of its Official Plan update — Kitchener 2051 - through a report to Council in February 2024. • Throughout June and July five consultant teams were retained for technical aspects and community engagement for Kitchener 2051. This work is well underway. • Community engagement is underway, and to -date has included pre -engagement with communities of interest, the recruitment and commencement of a community working group that is central to Kitchener 2051, and the Kitchener 2051 Gaukel Block Party to launch this work with the community. Pop-up engagement opportunities across the city are planned for the balance of 2024, the first speaker in the Kitchener 2051 speaker series is scheduled for November, and digital opportunities are available on engageWR and youth engagement modules. • Kitchener staff intend to report to council on work to date and what we heard through community engagement in December 2024. • Policy discussion at bi-monthly meetings help coordinate priorities and inform policy decision. • Waterloo undertook community consultation over the summer/fall to receive community input into their draft Official Plan policy, and staff hosted a statutory open house and public meeting for the Official Plan Review. Phase 1 of the Waterloo Official Plan will be presented to Council for consideration in December 2024. Sport and Recreation Joint Services Committee: Continuing into 2025 • Kitchener and Waterloo both liaise with a variety of community, sport and recreation groups and organizations to deliver programming and services to residents. The Page 40 of 42 purpose of this initiative is to bring consistency to the approach of sport and recreation service delivery through information sharing, understanding best practices, joint training and development, and maximizing resources with the potential for the initiative to expand beyond the two Cities to include other local municipalities. • Staff identified a number of current or potential shared service areas as sport and recreation opportunities and have developed a set of actions to further explore to bring enhance collaboration, improve service delivery and consistency (e.g., policy development, event bids, facility coordination, facility studies, fees and charges study, etc.). New Joint Service Initiative to Begin in 2025: Fleet Innovation In addition to the three continuing initiatives, the JSIC added one new initiative to the formal program; updates will provided in the next annual report. The cities of Waterloo and Kitchener will collaborate in the following two areas: (1) Fleet Sustainability: Sustainable fleet strategy; shifting to lower GHG emitting fuels using life -cycling and emerging opportunities (e.g. hydrogen) and identifying charging needs across facilities to align with electrification; engaging Enova and opportunities for joint conversations; leveraging grant funding for strategy development and implementation; and (2) Leveraging technology: Leveraging new and emerging autonomous/robotics technologies in fleet for more efficient operations (e.g., Waterloo grass -cutting at cricket pitch; Kitchener's use of robotic line painting at sports facilities); exploring new/other opportunities — e.g., sidewalk snow clearing; as these technologies advance, how to leverage into operations Broader Collaboration Outside of the formal JSIC program, both municipalities collaborate informally with one another and with other area municipalities and the Region of Waterloo as project partners. Recent examples of local municipal collaboration outside the formal annual JSIC program include: • Information -sharing on area municipal Strategic Plan progress and implementation including sharing knowledge on approaches to tracking and key indicators as well as looking for collaborative opportunities for the next iteration of the plan. • Participation in the Reconciliation Action Partnership, a collaborative group of municipal representatives working to coordinate efforts to support Indigenous - centred initiatives across Waterloo Region. • Harmonized approach to green development standards for all urban -area municipalities in the region, in partnership with a wide range of local stakeholders. • Review of cricket facilities and programming to respond to growing local interest and participation in this sport (also includes Cambridge). • Consistent public safety communication content and timing to local residents for, e.g., severe weather event declarations and emergency preparedness week. Page 41 of 42 • Development of guidelines for honoraria and compensation for advisory and quasi- judicial committees. • Government relations and advocacy on a number of projects including delegation meetings at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario Annual Conference and continued advocacy to the Province on legislative priorities. • Exploration of further regulations on, and alternatives to, fireworks to establish a unified approach that enhances the effectiveness and consistency of policies across our cities, with the goal of providing safe, environmentally responsible, and community -oriented celebrations. • Area municipal CAOs identify broader collaboration opportunities to improve service effectiveness and efficiency for citizens, with an emphasis on enhanced collaboration between the Region and local municipalities. STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT: This report supports the delivery of core services. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: The ongoing collaboration creates operational and capital costs savings, which vary in amount from year to year. COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT: INFORM — This report has been posted to the City's website with the agenda in advance of the council / committee meeting. Both Cities maintain current information about active joint service initiatives and upcoming projects at: www.kitchener.ca/jointservices and www.waterloo.ca/mointservices. PREVIOUS REPORTS/AUTHORITIES: There are no previous reports/authorities related to this matter. APPROVED BY: Dan Chapman, Chief Administrative Officer Page 42 of 42