City of Waterloo council summary September 27, 2021

** The council summary provides a snapshot of the major items presented at today's council meeting. Please refer to the minutes for an official record of the meeting.

Council approves plan to hit greenhouse gas reduction targets by 2030

Earlier this year, Council endorsed in principle an interim community greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction target of 50 per cent by 2030 and 80 per cent by 2050 and they have now approved tangible plans to achieve these goals.  These targets align with those set by TransformWR, which Council endorsed in May.

City staff have identified opportunities at several city buildings – Albert McCormick Community Centre, Fire Station 2, RIM Park – Manulife Sportsplex and Healthy Living Centre, Waterloo City Centre and the main branch of the Waterloo Public Library –  to reduce GHG emissions. Staff will now identify funding sources to pay for the enhancements and return with a plan for further Council approval.

Strategies identified to achieve the targets include: electrification, LED, energy recovery, and more. These have all shown to meet GHG emission reduction targets.

Council has also directed staff to update the City of Waterloo’s Green Building Policy by the end of 2021 to align with the policy with zero carbon building standards and to apply for capital energy grant opportunities.

This work aligns with Council’s strategic plan and in recognition of its declared climate emergency, Council endorsed the TransformWR strategy, as the community climate change mitigation strategy for the City of Waterloo.

City amends fireworks bylaw

Council has approved changes to the city’s fireworks bylaw with tighter timelines being introduced. Under the new rules fireworks will be permitted one day before and one day after Canada Day and Victoria Day and during the recognized duration of the holidays of Lunar New Year and Diwali. Fireworks may only be set off until 11 p.m. on permitted days.

Council also approved the development of a communications plan to explain the bylaw changes, safe fireworks practices and education around the environmental impacts of fireworks.

Outdoor rink program policy

Council has approved the City’s outdoor rink policy – with many items coming from the feedback of dedicated volunteers with a goal of making these rinks more sustainable throughout the winter.

Among the improvements: the use of tarps to protect against climate fluctuation, location criteria for new rinks, permitting the use of tools and snow blowers and several process changes to eliminate red tape and outline clear steps to apply for an outdoor rink. Between 25 and 30 outdoor rinks are built during the winter.

Speed limit reduction shows encouraging results

Council received early results of its efforts to make Waterloo city streets safer following the reduction of speed limits on various residential streets throughout the city.

Results show that the speed limit reduction pilot has had an overall positive effect on vehicle speeds. Council had directed that speeds be reduced to 40 km/hour on a number of streets, with some 30 km/hour school zones. Although, initial results are promising and while the majority of the speeds decreased from the historical trends, motorists were not fully compliant with the new lower posted speed limit in all locations. It’s important to note that data was collected during the pandemic when traffic volumes have been lower in general and so the data may not reflect true daily traffic patterns. Generally speaking, most of the public feedback, based on 345 responses, was supportive of speed reduction, with many respondents reporting increased comfort on subject streets with 120 respondents indicated being “very” uncomfortable. Through the development of the 30 km/h speed limit option as part of the upcoming speed management program, staff will engage with the public and collect more data in order to bring recommendations to Council on the future of speed limits within the City of Waterloo.

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Media contact:
Tony Iavarone
Director, Corporate Communications
tony.iavarone@waterloo.ca