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Council Info for May 8, 2019

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.

June 21st ION launch date announced
Following years of planning, construction and testing, the ION launch date for start of service has been set as June 21, 2019. The grand opening event will take place at ION Fairway Station as this location provides the greatest opportunity to accommodate a crowd. Fairway Station also allows the opening ceremony to highlight the ION bus connection from Fairway Station in Kitchener to Ainslie Street transit terminal in Cambridge – the first step to light rail in Cambridge. As part of the celebration of the start of ION service Regional Council has approved 11 days of free transit services for Grand River Transit and the ION light rail transit system from Friday June 21 up to and including Monday July 1, 2019 (Canada Day) More details on the ION opening day events will be confirmed and shared widely as we get closer to June 21st. For more information go to www.grt.ca/ion

Council appoints Integrity Commissioner
Municipalities are required to provide the public and Members of Council access to an Integrity Commissioner. Council appointed Aird & Berlis LLP, led by John Mascarin, for their broad experience in the municipal sector. This includes code of conduct investigative experience and work related to the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act. They plan to finalize the Region’s complaints process, offer advice to Councillors if requested and provide the public information on who to contact the Integrity Commissioner through the Region’s website. The four-year term will start June 1, 2019.

Tax on local hotel rooms will raise money for tourism marketing
Waterloo Region area municipalities will be implementing a tax on local hotel rates (called a municipal accommodation tax) beginning July 1, 2019. This four per cent tax – which will generate an estimated $3.3 million a year – will be used for tourism marketing of Waterloo Region across Ontario and beyond. The funds will be shared between the Waterloo Region Tourism Marketing Corporation (50 per cent), participating lower tier municipalities (40 per cent), and the Region of Waterloo (10 per cent). The Region of Waterloo will enter into agreements with each area municipality to flow funds to the Region. The Region will use our portion of funds to develop tourism through initiatives like grants for cultural events and festivals.

Council approves grant for House of Friendship
House of Friendship requested a $150,000 grant for a new addiction treatment centre in Cambridge. The current site is not big enough to meet service demands and significant repairs are needed. Council approved the one-time grant to help House of Friendship serve more clients and improve access to service.

 

Tenders/Contracts:        

The following tenders/contracts were approved by Council:

  • $9,132,025.00 to E&E Seegmiller Ltd. for Franklin Boulevard (RR 36) improvements.
  • $5,686,786.08 to Network Sewer and Watermain Ltd. for improvements to Gingerich Rd., Listowel Rd and 1000 Lackner Blvd. Underground, intersection and other miscellaneous improvements. 
  • $4,023,110.00 to Smith and Long Ltd. for the Sunnyside Home Rooftop Unit Replacement.
  • $1,236,000.00 to Scheidt & Bachmann Canada Inc. over three years  to implement a hosted and managed services solution for the Region’s Electronic Fare Management System commencing May, 2019.
  • $1,188,000.00 to Nortex Roofing Ltd. for Flat Roof Replacement – Waterloo Region Housing.
  • $1,048,225.00 to W.A. Stephenson Mechanical Contractors Limited for Electric Operator Replacement Phases 2 and 3.
  • $200,000.00 to Natural Resource Solutions Inc. to implement and Overall Benefit Plan on the general habitat for Blanding’s Turtle and the Regulated habitat for Jefferson Salamander.
  • $530,871.42 to Daytech Limited for Transit shelters.
  • $2289,785.91 to Scheidt & Bachmann for the purchase of ten FB/50 fareboxes.
  • $222,789.28 to INIT – Innovations in Transportation Inc. for Onboard vehicle hardware.
  • $160,000 to WalterFedy which is an amendment to the Consultant Services Agreement for consulting engineering services for the Snyder’s Road Improvement project.

 



Next Council Meeting
June 5, 2019 at 7 p.m.


For more information, contact:
Bryan Stortz, Director, Corporate Communications, 519-575-4408
Regional Clerk’s Office, 519-575-4400