Council Info - July 15, 2020
Region surplus land to be used for Affordable Housing
Council voted to declare Region-owned land at 555 Beechwood Drive, Waterloo as surplus for the eventual purpose of transfer to a private or non-profit developer in exchange for building Affordable Housing rental units. This will be subject to robust design guidelines including density, height considerations, number of low income units, greenspace and neighbourhood communications. The land, originally used for a water pumping station, is currently zoned for residential mixed use permitting a building up to six stories high. This will be a pilot project to help inform future efforts to turn Region surplus land into affordable housing opportunities.
Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) implementation plan approved
In an effort to reduce traffic speeds and to enhance safety within school zones located on Regional roads, Regional Council has approved a plan to implement automated speed enforcement. Regional and area municipal staff agreed on an operating model and implementation plan that involves Regional staff administering the ASE program on behalf of all area municipalities. The phased implementation of the ASE program launch will begin with eight school zones (one school zone per municipality). Additional sites and cameras may be added to the program in future years based on available capacity and planned increases in staff resources, subject to Council approval.
Council looks for innovative proposals for alternative housing development
A public expression of interest (EOI) for alternative housing at 161 Bechtel St. Cambridge, will be open to private and non-profit developers July 2020. The Region encourages new and creative solutions to create alternative housing that explore different operating models, financing options, inventive partnerships between all types of stakeholders (builders, agencies, levels of government), and the size and type of dwelling to be developed.
Council requests formal review of municipal funding
Council voted to request a formal review by the province of the provincial/municipal funding relationship. The review would focus on reducing reliance on property taxes for programs which have province-wide public objectives and serve income redistribution and social equity purposes such as: social assistance; social housing; long-term care, child care, ambulance services and public health. The Region will ask that the province maintain current provincial gas tax allocations to municipalities delivering public transit regardless of ridership reductions resulting from COVID-19. It will be recommended that downloading public health costs to municipalities be cancelled altogether or deferred indefinitely.
Tenders/Contracts:
The following tenders/contracts were approved by Council:
- $3,873,200 to Bennet Mechanical Installation Ltd. for headworks and thickener upgrades to the Hespeler Wastewater Treatment Plant.
- $3,438,000 to Steed and Evans Limited for miscellaneous roadworks at various locations in Waterloo Region.
- $2,688,000 to Miovision Technologies for the TrafficLink Advanced Traffic Management System.
- $815,600 to Chamberlain Architect Services for Waterloo Region Housing Development located at 416 Kingscourt Drive in Waterloo.
- $773,720.00 to LGA Architectural Partners for the Waterloo Region Housing Development located at 82 Wilson Avenue in Kitchener.
- $442,493.50 to J-AAR Excavation Limited for the Courtland Avenue Watermain Rehabilitation in Kitchener.
- $179,827.50 to Doug Dixon and Associates to provide engineering consulting services for preliminary design, detailed design, contract administration and construction inspection services for the rehabilitation and preservation of the West Montrose Covered Bridge in the Township of Woolwich.
Next Council Meeting
August 20, 2020 at 7 p.m.
For more information, contact:
Bryan Stortz, Director, Corporate Communications, 519-575-4408
Regional Clerk’s Office, 519-575-4400