Council Info - April 18, 2018

Council Info is a summary of discussion and the major items presented at Council meetings. It is circulated immediately following each meeting. You are encouraged to quote from and copy this information. Please refer to the minutes for an official record of the meeting.

Funding for affordable rental units
Council approved the allocation of $2,443,700 in Social Infrastructure Funding (SIF) for an estimated 21 new affordable rental housing units. Some additional funding will be reallocated for an estimated additional four affordable rental units. The Region will be issuing a request for proposal in the coming weeks for the use of this funding.

Housing program helps survivors of domestic violence
The Region will participate in a provincial program that aims to make it easier for survivors of domestic violence to leave an abusive situation by granting timely access to housing solutions. This program provides survivors the option of rent assistance that will allow them to access housing immediately in the community of their choice, instead of waiting for community housing options. This program is a continuation of a successful pilot program that ran from 2016 – 2018.

New bikeshare pilot project approved
After Community Access Bikeshare (CAB) informed the Region that it would no longer operate as of January 2018, community members, the Cities of Kitchener and Waterloo, and organizations such as ClimateActionWR vocalized their support to continue bikesharing service in Waterloo Region. Staff from the three cities and Region reached out to other bikeshare providers to pilot a system at no cost to municipalities. Three quotations were received and at staff recommendation, Regional Council approved Dropbike as the new provider. Dropbike is a dock-less bike sharing system based in Toronto and launched in 2017. They currently operate in Kingston, Toronto and Montreal. Bikes are unlocked using a smartphone and don’t require physical infrastructure, but users are incentivized to return bikes to parking zones called “havens”. In addition to the one-year pilot, Regional and City staff prepared a joint funding application through the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Green Municipal Fund to undertake an in-depth bikeshare study in late 2018. The study will review bikesharing systems and use data and experience collected from the pilot to recommend the most appropriate system and policies to expand bikesharing and help make sustainable transportation the easy choice in Waterloo Region.

Council approves Smart Cities application for Waterloo Region
The Region of Waterloo, cities of Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo as well as the townships of Wilmot, Woolwich, North Dumfries and Wellesley, are collectively responding to the Government of Canada’s Smart Cities Challenge to municipalities. Smart Cities encourages communities to use technology and data to overcome their most pressing challenge. Healthy children and youth has been selected as our community’s challenge area based on extensive public consultation. If selected as the winning community, we will leverage a $50 million grant to enhance child and youth wellbeing as it relates to early child development, mental health and high school graduation rates.

Council Compensation 2018-2022
Members of the 2018 Citizen Advisory Committee on Council Compensation undertook a review of the remuneration and benefits for the Regional Chair and Regional Councillors, and determined that the base compensation was fair and appropriate, and provided good value for the public service contributed to the community by members of Regional Council. The Committee members unanimously agreed that the base compensation rates for both Regional Councillors and the Regional Chair should be maintained. The approved recommendations of the 2018 Citizen Advisory Committee on Council Compensation are effective for the next term of Regional Council, December 1, 2018 to November 14, 2022.

Tenders/Contracts:
The following tenders/contracts were approved by Council:
• $3,782,700.00 to Steed and Evans Limited for the widening of Northfield Drive – Bridge Street to Davenport, Waterloo.
• $2,226,029.88 to Capital Paving Inc. for Fairway Road North widening from Lackner Boulevard to Pebble Creek Drive, Kitchener.
• $2,087,012.34 to Capital Paving Inc. for intersection and other miscellaneous roadway improvements.
• $1,661,351.00 to BGL Contractors Corp for a Waterloo wastewater treatment plant clarifier mechanism replacement.
• $1,513,288.00 to BGL Contractors Corp for disinfection upgrades to Ground Water Under Direct Influence (GUDI) wells.

For more information, contact:

Bryan Stortz, Director, Corporate Communications, 519-575-4408

Regional Clerk’s Office, 519-575-4420