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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCompass Kitchener - 2001-03-15comPRSS HITCHEflER MINUTES COMPASS KITCHENER STEERING COMMITTEE Thursday, March 1S, 2001 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. HR Learning Room, 2na Floor Committee Trudy Beaulne, Trudi Bunting, Pat Doherty, Don Bourgeois, Carl Zehr, Wendy Attendees: Macintosh, George Zador, Staff Attendees: Brock Stanley, Marie Morrison, Shelley Adams, Grace Bermingham Tammy Schertzer Regrets: Mike Sully 1. AGENDA · The Municipal Plan Overview was tabled to the next meeting · Reporting back to the community and discussion on Role of the Committee was added to the agenda · Agenda was moved by Trudy and approved by the group. 2. MINUTES from February 15 were approved by the group 3. ANNOUNCEMENTS - Marie Morrison Marie passed around a plaque/award that was given to the City of Kitchener from the K-W Community Foundation "Our Millennium" project. The plaque was for "giving the gift" of Compass Kitchener Community Vision and Directions in celebration of the Millennium. The Our Millennium wrap-up event will be taking place on Thursday, March 29 from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. at City Hall. Mayor Zehr will be attending for the City and Marie and possibly Trudy Beaulne will attend for Compass Kitchener. The Waterloo Region Healthy Communities Good Ideas Group has organized a free brown bag lunch workshop series with a focus on "Moving Beyond Visions to Implementation". Members of the Compass Kitchener Committee may be interested in attending one or more of these workshops. The first workshop is May 3rd with a guest speaker from the Regional Municipality of Halton. Marie will provide brochures with more information at the Committee's next meeting. Trudy passed out some information on the Good Ideas Group. Marie has not yet heard back from Mike Follet of the Chamber but will attempt to set up a meeting with the Chamber's Municipal Affairs Committee. A series of workshops on urban poverty have been organized by the Urban Environmental Management Project at UW with space provided by City of Kitchener. The workshop entitled Local Government and Poverty which features o City of Kitchener Opportunities 2000 Response is on Thursday, April 26 from 7:00- 10:00 p.m. in the Conestoga room. Committee members are encouraged to attend. SELECTION OF CHAIR AND VICE Chair - Mike Sully Vice Chair - Don Bourgeois The remainder of the meeting was chaired by Vice Chair Don Bourgeois o ROLE OF COMMITTEE Marie passed out a draft summary of the role of the Committee Adopted as a document in progress Marie to create charts based on this information to hang on wall during meetings to help keep Committee focused Discussion ensued with ideas for Compass Kitchener: > We need to find a short "Bumper Sticker Statement" for Compass Kitchener. > When looking at implementing Compass Kitchener there are the three P's to be aware of- Policies, Practices, Programs · Policies are written down and agreed upon ways of operating · Practices are how things are actually done · Programs are structured activities that are trying to achieve some intended outcome. > We need to keep people involved, i.e. - a decision will not be made unless lA the Neighbourhood Associations agree for example. > We need a by-line that is attached to all things happening in Kitchener that are driven by Compass Kitchener like the Urban Evolution symbol we see popping up everywhere. A suggestion for what it could say "Compass Kitchener driving project this is the direction that is getting us there". We need to decide where our name should be appearing. > How will Boards such as the Library and Hydro, etc. be involved and kept accountable. What is our leverage on external bodies? Social Planning Council of K-W has for example reviewed and adopted Compass Kitchener. KDBA is another group that was looking to do this - unsure of their status at this point. Don mentioned that one disappointment is that there seems to be a lack of business community participation. REPORTING BACK TO THE COMMUNITY In the Compass Kitchener Vision and Directions June 2000 Report, we promised to report back on progress in spring of 2001. The Committees Terms of Reference say we will hold one meeting as an open forum. We need to identify the message of what we want to report, to whom, where, when and how. o What? What do we want to let people know about? · How Compass Kitchener has changed the way the City does business · Poverty and OP 2000 Response · Work in the downtown · Compass Kitchener Committee · Creation of the Housing Initiatives Team · Incorporated into Official Plan Review · We need to get input about what the Community had wanted and whether or not we fell short. · Talk to people at the Kitchen Table Talks and ask them how they would like to hear the information. Who? · those who have been involved to-date in Compass Kitchener · whole community · include business How? · Report Card · Community-wide distribution as did with brochure in fall - caution not to get too glitzy. · Open meeting with report on progress and Round Tables - combine information, celebration, and participation - could check-in and ask what people thought would happen. When? · By June 20th Where? · One suggestion was that it could be held somewhere other than City Hall for a different feel like a Community Centre, etc. · The majority of the group felt City Hall because it is a civic meeting space, central and because we are trying to associate the initiatives with the City. WORKING GROUP REPORTS > All groups have met once. Marie provided a Meeting Summaries packet to the group Direction #1 Summary information led the Compass Kitchener Committee to discuss Kitchener Table Talks: > Committee was provided with KTT questions and a draft copy of the KTT discussion tool brochure "City of Kitchener Guide to Participating in Decision-Making". Some suggestions were made by Committee Members to the brochure - we leave the pictures of the Region staff out until we get the official photos - the brochure should be sent to senior management to get approval if it will be sent out to others - Communications Division will also have to review it as well. Marie reported that she had approached the Economic Development Advisory Committee to see if someone was interested in hosting a Kitchen Table Talk. The Committee decided to have a Kitchen Table Talk as part of their next meeting. A Kitchen Table Talk pilot was held with people who had responded to the brochure which had gone out in the Pennysaver. This went well. Next Steps for Direction #1 · Have another Direction #1 Working Group Meeting (include Shelley) · Develop list of assets/strengths in this area · Identify recommendations for what you want to achieve and what sort of timeline Direction #2 Committee agreed that work in identifying problem statements etc. is happening through the Municipal Housing Statement - Invite Joan Jylanne from the Region to next Committee meeting to provide an up-date on housing to the group - can decide where to go from there. It was felt that someone from the City's Housing Initiatives Team should be attending the Regional Housing Coalition. > It was felt that without waiting for the Municipal Housing Statement the City could gather information. For example, property tax arrears (Finance could track how much money and how many people are in arrears), amount of housing stock owned by City and policies It was felt that Council needs to advocate around housing issues to provincial and federal government Direction #3 The Downtown Staff will present the updated strategic plan to the Compass Kitchener Committee. Working Group will not be meeting again at this time. Direction #4 Identified that the Direction #4 Working Group needs to meet again. A meeting will be scheduled before next months Compass Kitchener Committee Meeting. Direction #5 Direction #5 Working Group recommending that this area be referred to the Environmental Committee and Environmental Study Group to incorporate in their Environmental Strategic Plan review. Plan to start the Environmental Strategic Plan in June but do not expect to be done it until 2002. We have done a great deal of internal initiatives but we have not involved the business or the community. We need to involve other community groups and business. The question seems to be "How do we engage the broader community?" > The City does not have Environmental Indicators but if we did have them we could say once a year what has happened and what we did, etc. We need to look at Direction #5 again but do not require another Working Group meeting at this point. 8. NEXT MEETING DATE AND AGENDA ITEMS The next meeting will be held on April 19th at 5:00 in the HR Learning Room, 2nd floor of City Hall. Some items for the agenda include: · Housing and Municipal Housing Statement Information from Joan Jylanne · Municipal Plan Review Overview · Working Group Reports for Directions #1 and #4 · Plan for Reporting Back to Community on Compass Kitchener Progress 9. ACTION LIST Provide brochures with more information at the Marie Morrison Yes Committee' s next meeting on May 3rd' s workshop Attempt to set up a meeting with the Chamber's Marie Morrison Municipal Affairs Committee Meeting adjourned at 7:00 p.m.