July 31, 2013
I will be cross-posting my electronic newsletters as blog entries moving forward. If you aren’t already receiving them, I’d be happy to have you as a subscriber.
Below is my second newsletter, emailed out on July 22.
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In this edition:
1. Storm Clean-up
2. Community Financial report
3. Northdale Plan Approved by Ontario Municipal Board
4. Building a Culturally Vibrant City
1. Storm Clean-up
Staff at Waterloo North Hydro and the City of Waterloo have been working day and night since Friday’s storm to restore power and to clear trees and branches from public roads, sidewalks, and trails. All of Hydro’s customers have had their power restored as of midday today. I know you will join me in thanking all of them for their efforts over the past few days, as well as the thousands of Waterloo residents who rolled up their sleeves to help their neighbours clear trees and debris all across the City. We truly live in a thoughtful and caring community.
The City has put out a news release with specific information on clean-up of downed trees and limbs on public and private property.
I appreciate your patience as all of us — residents and City staff — work to clean up after this devastating storm.
2. Community Financial report
Traditionally, the City only published accountant-oriented annual financial statements to share how we were doing with the public. I’ve been asking staff to consider how we can make statements more resident-oriented for the last two years and so I’m very pleased that the City has released its first Community Financial Report. This resident-oriented report provides highlights of actions and accomplishments in 2012, including embedded video. It also contains easy-to-read explanations of how MPAC reassessment affects your taxation levels and how we’re doing on debt and reserve fund levels.
3. Northdale Plan Approved by Ontario Municipal Board
Just over a year ago, I was pleased when Council approved our community’s new 20-year planto revitalize and reurbanize the Northdale neighbourhood. Since that time, the City has been working through the appeals process at the Ontario Municipal Board. As the only appeals still remaining were site specific in nature,the Board recently agreed to our request to put the plan into effect. After all the work the community, staff, and I put into developing the plan, I look forward to private investments that will drive the plan forward. Two projects are coming to Council in August, including 318 Spruce Street and 62 Balsam St. Council will also be considering how best to move forward with the Community Improvement Plan later this year.
4. Building a Culturally Vibrant City
A City is much more than the sum of its infrastructure: it is a place to live, work, learn, play, and grow. Council has approved the next phase of our first broadly focused Culture Plan, and there will be more opportunities for the public to shape our priorities before final approval in late fall. From the Uptown Piano and Book Cycle in the Public Square to breaking ground on a dynamic new Waterloo Park West and a first-in-Canada crowd-funding for local projects, there is already a lot of new activity in our great City.
Attending the annual parish banquet at the Romanian St. John the Baptist church
In the last month, I’ve been pleased to attend diverse community events such as the KW Multicultural Festival, Open Streets, the Sun Life Uptown Waterloo Jazz Festival, the Manulife LPGA Classic, and the annual parish banquet at the Romanian St. John the Baptist church.
As the Council liaison to our Advisory Committee on Culture, I’d love to hear from you what your favorite activity or event is that gets your unique creative juices flowing – we are a stronger community when we celebrate that diversity and build on it.I hope you’ve found a way to stay cool this summer. Thank you again for reading, and I appreciate your comments and suggestions for how we can make Waterloo an even better place to live.