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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEcon Dev Adv - 2007-12-12 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES December 12, 2007 City of Kitchener The Economic Development Advisory Committee met this date, chaired by Adrian Conrad; the following members were in attendance: Steven Voll, Len Carter, Glen Woolner, Councillor John Smola, Willy Heffner, Jeremy Auger, Bob Denton, Lawrence Bingeman, Peter Benninger, Paul Singh, Mark Collins The following people sent their regrets: Gerry Remers, Don Zehr, Howie Budd, Dan Peidra The following people were absent: Sherryl Petricevic, Ian Cook Staff in attendance: Rod Regier, Janette MacDonald, Rob Morgan, Sandy Curzon, Silvia Wright, Shelley Adams, Jeff Willmer, Tracey DeVille, Cory Bluhm 1. Discussion Items Washing lights on king and replacing bulbs so they are all the same, Silvia noted that they have been done once and they are in the process of replacing the bulbs. Silvia will check the status of the lighting and make sure that they have all been done. She will follow up and let the committee know. Motion to accept – Glen Woolner Seconded by Len Carter Carried rd Committee of the Advisory Committee Review – meets Wednesday (3) of the month between 4 and 6 until June and they require a rep on that Committee. This Committee is put together to review the advisory committee structure and is made up of members of all advisory committees. We need a volunteer to sit on this as a representative of EDAC. Business vs. strategy – workplans that fit with the City – reasoning is the review from Healthy Committee and the number of committees that overlap each other. Glen Woolner advised that he will sit if no one else will volunteer. Year in Review 1.1 Rod Regier provided and overview of the year in review of 2007. The Economic Development Strategy being one of the major items that were discussed and the document that came out of the discussion. The committee had discussion on Centre Block and that process is unfolding – the Centre Block Evaluation Committee is currently working through that. Brownfield Program – regional model presentation was provided earlier this year, program mirrors City’s program and provides a greater incentive possibilities Talent Attraction Strategy / Urban Vitality strategy – the work that needs to be done – this has been built into our economic development strategy, builds on what we are looking for, the need with the way that our world is developing, digital media and animation, downtown tours for new recruits, King Street Master Plan – Council approved, Ira Needles Blvd industrial land rezoning issue – discussion challenged the committee and how future developments would be dealt with by the committee, the review of advisory committees will prove to be important in future projects Growth Management Strategy – one of those projects which is moving forward with a report due in early spring and that will come back to our agenda at that time Corporate Visitation Program – outcome has been the MIN – Manufacturing Innovation Network These were important topics for us – they have helped to advance the direction of the City and the input from the diverse minds around the table have been important. The number of key projects that have been dealt with have had a great deal of support by the committee In the downtown in 2007 we have seen 25 to 30 new businesses open up David’s Gourmet – our first grocery store Shopper’s Drug Mart – moving to a larger location and including grocery Building Permits – 21% of the total permits in the city in the last year have been in the downtown – 1700 residential units in the process right now (Kaufman – which will be full in March of 08 to Centre Block in it’s initial stages, Benton Street Arrow Lofts, Drewlo Apartments on Queen) young, well educated market that has a great interest in the downtown. There is an interest in the downtown and the central neighbourhoods, Lang Tannery project is moving forward with some exciting discussions taking place there – resembles the 401 / Richmond building in Toronto with the mix Talks have been going on with the new owners at Lang and they have no intention of removing any of the current tenants – they see that there needs to be a better use of space in the building which may include moving current people to one location in the building freeing up other space for larger businesses. Comments on the year’s agenda: - Downtown Kitchener still has the sense of being closed at night – we need to do another tour at night – we need to make downtown more inviting to have more interest when we bring the people down from the suburbs we need to show them - CMF – now that the city has made a decision – we need to do it cost effectively it is an example of what could be done on a grander scale, one tier government would be more effective. - Having a police member on EDAC – Shelley advised that with the overlap on the committees, and the review of the advisory committees would show where we need to make changes. DAC has police representation – verbal report from DAC at the meetings until we have a different system – cross appointments on committees were effective, we need to stick with the EDAC agenda, - We have a commitment from the city to improving the downtown but we are missing the other issues and the issue of safety – if we don’t know what is going on then that would mean that the public does not know what is going on either – it is not working we need to make sure that the message gets out there to everyone – this is at an early stage and patience at this point is important. - Perception – one of the main things is lighting and that is one of the major driving forces on the streetscape design. - Civic square lighting will be addressed in the Spring 08, there are more people on the streets, we are seeing new residents, new businesses, new housing options, - We as an additional group should make a strong statement to the police that we need to have them on our committee - Shelley offered to come back to the committee in January and provide a presentation to the committee on what has been going on with the advisory committee review, the police have increased their presence downtown - Maybe a rep from our committee could meet with the police – there is a big issue here still - Public needs to be aware of it – all the good things we are doing are attracting businesses and now we need to work on the people. Centre Block: - the process is still on going and we are working on complex issues on the parking structure and how the city’s component would fit into the phasing, cost options, very detailed instructions are going on right now. Due diligence taking place, research that was to be done in September are still rolling in and although we had originally planned on having a proposal to council in the fall there are issues that have come up that need to be dealt with before we do that. - Plan design is continuing to be refined, Andrin has been given all the feedback from the public consultations and continued fine tuning is ongoing. - We are not prepared to speculate on the potential outcome, however, we will bring a report to Council that we are confident in What are the by-laws surrounding the issue of posters on lamp posts – there are by-laws surrounding this – perhaps we could create spaces that allow for posting of events and festivals 2008 Agenda Items 1.2 Rod Regier went over the potential listing of 2008 agenda items LRT – sometime after May CTT/Marketing strategy – pull together with tourism Biotech strategy – new things are coming we could see a workplan coming forward sometime after February Digital media – discussions have been on going with local tech companies and the universities and the concept for the digital media convergence centre is being developed – there is tremendous private sector support for that (is there a way to include public attraction? Such as Imax – we could look into this as part of the mix, the concept is still at a very preliminary stage Downtown retail strategy – data collection, modeling work, surveys – all will be packaged into strategy on Council’s request – we are still recruiting retailers and working with local developers to bring that in – this is a natural discussion for DAC and we will discuss at DAC and report to EDAC – we need to take into consideration the streetscape construction and ensure that future businesses are informed Business visitation – report will be developed and brought to the committee in the new year – requests that future surveys include feedback from committee members – possible demonstration of the min webpage Focus on infrastructure and how to replace it – and review – report was just received by Council on Monday and the decision will be more hikes in billing etc., On motion by Peter Benninger Seconded by Len Carter Meeting adjourned at 1:00 pm.