HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil - 2005-09-19 S
SPECIAL COUNCIL MINUTES
SEPTEMBER 19, 2005
CITY OF KITCHENER
A special meeting of City Council was held at 3:38 p.m. this date, Chaired by Mayor C. Zehr and with
all members present, except Councillor J. Gazzola.
Notice of this special meeting had been previously given to all members of Council by the City Clerk
pursuant to Chapter 25 (Council Procedure) of the Municipal Code.
C. Ladd, Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), advised that this special Council meeting will be a
strategic planning session which is part of a series of meetings which have been held to allow
discussion on various strategic initiatives and directions being taken by the City.
Council was in receipt of Chief Administrative Officer's report CAO-05-017, dated June 2, 2005, and
Economic Development Investment Report entitled 'Urban Investment Strategy Emerging Clusters:
The Framework', dated June, 2005. H. Gross, Director of Project Administration and Economic
Investment presented the Urban Investment Strategy for Emerging Clusters, advising that an
economic cluster is the geographic concentration of competing and cooperating companies,
suppliers, service providers and associated institutions. He added that it is recognized there are two
types of clusters; mature clusters such as manufacturing or the pharmaceutical industry and
emerging clusters such as bio-technology and digital media. Mr. Gross further advised that the Urban
Investment Strategy will take a two-pronged approach ensuring a stable mature cluster economy
while focusing on development of the new economy clusters.
H. Gross explained that the success factors with respect to the development of the emerging clusters
consists of: the fact that clusters are bred not constructed; talent is the main production factor;
clusters grow and develop regionally; industry leads the development and government supports; the
community champions with greater vision than single firm successes; the need for anchor firms /
companies; need for strong research activity and entrepreneurial culture; and, requirement to attract
key people who can provide the vision and entrepreneurialism required to develop these clusters. He
added that the focus areas for the City will be education and knowledge creation, bio-technology, arts
and culture and the recently evolved digital media cluster.
K. Weiss, Manager of Business Development, provided information regarding the emerging bio-
technological cluster advising that currently there are 132 companies located in the Region of
Waterloo of which 39 are located within the City of Kitchener. Ms. Weiss reviewed the strengths,
weaknesses and the current status of the emerging cluster within the Region highlighting the link with
the University of Waterloo, new investment for the Downtown, and the lack of Greenfield commercial
development opportunities in close proximity to the university campus and lack of large tracts of
Greenfield employment lands. Ms. Weiss advised on the opportunities and current focus with respect
to this cluster including the adaptive re-use / inner-city redevelopment, the partnership with the Grand
River West Business Park to support higher-end industrial users, the Highway 7 link to Guelph and
the Regional positioning of the sector to the University of Waterloo Research Park. Ms. Weiss
advised on the next steps to be taken which in large part will be the completion of an inventory of
available land and working space.
Councillor G. Lorentz inquired as to the status of the Breslau lands inventory. Mr. Gross responded
that the Region has completed an inventory of non-residential land which will be available shortly. He
also advised that the Breslau land development is currently on hold in order to deal with a request
from a developer who would like to develop part of his industrial lands as residential. This request is
not supported by the Township and will go before Regional Council in approximately six months time.
E. Harris, Arts & Culture Coordinator, spoke to the arts and culture emerging cluster and how a
dynamic arts and culture environment is essential to attracting talent required by other emerging
clusters. Ms. Harris provided an update on the CulturePlan II and the steps to be taken in the
implementation of the Plan. S. Wright, Manager of Downtown Community Development, advised on
the emerging digital media cluster which for the most part is a convergence of art and technology
used in: video games; virtual reality simulators; e-Iearning; video conferencing; film animation; digital
music production; etc. Ms. Wright advised that an environment can be created to allow this cluster to
grow but it does require quality urban space to attract knowledge workers, talent and investors. Ms.
Wright advised on the next steps which will be the establishment of a digital media cluster team,
inventorying resources, talent and businesses and identifying the actions required to promote the
development of the cluster.
R. Regier, Executive Director of Economic Development, concluded the presentation advising that the
next steps for the Economic Development Strategy will include: continued development of the
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SEPTEMBER 19, 2005
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CITY OF KITCHENER
implementation plan for emerging clusters; developing a strategy to support competitiveness of
mature clusters; developing an updated comprehensive economic development strategy for
Kitchener; a continued focused approach to accommodate / locate supply chain industries of the
emerging clusters; and, continuing the ongoing work with various partners.
Mayor C. Zehr enquired as to any steps taken to establish benchmarks and / or milestones as part of
the Strategy. Mr. Regier advised of the need to identify benchmarks with respect to the Strategy and
in particular, to the identified emerging clusters in order to evaluate the success of the proposed
program. Mayor Zehr also enquired with respect to working with other municipalities and agencies
and ensuring that the City of Kitchener does receive a fair share of the benefit in this regard. Mr.
Regier responded that working with the other agencies and the Region is collaborative and although
regional in nature as to attracting new businesses, the City of Kitchener can offer an environment not
available elsewhere in the Region. C. Ladd, CAO, added that the area municipalities' CAOs have
met to discuss these issues recognizing that each municipality does offer a certain environment which
makes the region attractive for businesses and each municipality should reap benefits.
Moved by Councillor C. Weylie
Seconded by Councillor B. Vrbanovic
"That the document 'Urban Investment Strategy Emerging Clusters: The Framework' dated
June, 2005, be endorsed and City staff develop an integrated implementation plan for city-wide
emerging cluster development."
Carried.
P. Houston, General Manager of Financial Services & City Treasurer, gave a presentation on the
agreement requirements under the Federal Gas Tax Program. Ms. Houston advised that the
agreement which was developed between the Federal Government and the Association of
Municipalities of Ontario, covers the first five years of the program and will come into effect once the
agreement has been signed. She then provided some highlights of the agreement:
· if the municipality decides to spend dollars on roads and bridges, they must demonstrate that
the investment contributes to environmental sustainability;
· municipalities must submit a plan in advance of investing in roads and bridges to ensure they
can report on environmental benefits of this investment;
· municipalities must agree that Federal Gas Tax revenue investment will result in a net increase
in total investment in municipal infrastructure over the life of the agreement.
Ms. Houston advised that the gas tax funding will be used for investments in:
· Environmentally sustainable municipal infrastructure; and,
· Capacity building projects - projects and activities that strengthen the ability of municipalities to
develop and implement integrated community sustainability plans.
Ms. Houston further advised that staff salaries, benefits, overhead costs, legal fees, land costs and
routine repair and maintenance costs are not eligible under the agreement. Ms. Houston concluded
her presentation reviewing the revised targeted projects within the 10-year Capital Forecast that are
based on the August, 2005 Federal criteria.
Mayor C. Zehr raised an issue previously discussed by Council regarding roadway and sidewalk
costs incurred by the City to accommodate Regional transit routes and whether this could be included
in the Federal Gas Tax Program. Ms. Houston replied that based on the criteria, roads and sidewalks
would not be included but a 'transit only' lane on a road could be. G. Stewart, General Manager of
Development & Technical Services, advised that City and Regional staff have been in discussions
regarding the Region assuming responsibility for the construction of sidewalks on Regional roads and
that staff would be reporting to Council on this matter in the near future. Councillor G. Lorentz
suggested that the City be compensated for the work completed on Homer Watson Boulevard relative
to the new St. Mary's High School.
S. Adams, Director of Strategic Community & Corporate Planning, advised that the results of the
Environics survey which was conducted on behalf of Compass Kitchener will be presented to Council
at the regular Council meeting of October 3, 2005. Ms. Adams further advised that the Environics
survey is part of the Compass Kitchener mandate and will be used to build a vision for the City and
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CITY OF KITCHENER
assist in budget priorities around this community vision. J. Willmer, Director of Planning, added that
the Regional Growth Management Strategy is part of the results which will initiate citizen engagement
in the growth strategy and may assist Council in developing its direction in this regard.
Council was in receipt this date of the Ouarterly Reports on the Shared Agenda, Infrastructure
Progress, Status of Capital Projects, Asset Management progress and the Shared Agenda Progress
Report - Moving Forward.
On motion, the meeting adjourned at 4:47 p.m.
MAYOR
CLERK