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11ftiLLAftrdtLLStitttES "To tell you the truth,"ahe said. "I think our community is really well served in most areas by existing programs. The challenge is to bring coordination to them in order that we make the best use of the dollar that we have, Waterloo $llllll' past, present, future Friday marhs the beginning of the 125th mlversary year for the city, h _ Organization and co-ordination of mun- icipally-funded services and programs is essential to the future of Waterloo, main- tains Alderman Mary Jams Mewhinney. As a preview to the year, The Chronicle has presented a tttree-part series of articles based on interviews with Water- loo's elected ofrieials. There is a new outlook in the city of Waterloo; it's goodbye small-town _sh.w Hess. hello big-city aggressiveness. And, he continued. with the world economic situation as it is, for the future economic security of Waterloo. this new attitude couldn't have come at a better time. This is according to Alderman Richard Riggs who claimed, “in the last few years we've come out of the small town and into the aggressive city Image." In this last segment. reporter Melodee A. Martinuk interviews Mayor Marjorie Carroll and two aldermen. "The city is maturing _.. we are now actively going out and seeking industry.“ Biggs said. "We are in a situation where we are beginning to realize that we as a city have lots to offer and are not shy about telling others with a view to expanding our economy. The economic situation in the region and throughout the country will create pres- sures on the city, she said. making it a challenge to maintain the level of services offered to residents. "it's very tough to start new programs," Mewhinney went on to explain. "And when there is not a lot of money you have to plan: you make sure there's no fat in present programs and you have to decide how one program mightpmeet the needs of more people" to make optimum use of the dollar spent. What 7 features does Waterloo have to make it attractive to prospective industri- al developers? Many, replied Biggs. However, Mewhinney stressed, the city must not respond to this challenge "by panicking and cutting programs right and left. There has to be a balance "between "We hive a susierior lifesytle, it's a - 'Mrittrto COM)" Pay as you go this is the philosophy which Waterloo Mayor Marjorie Carroll believes council should follow in making decisions in the future. However, despite the fact -that the economic downturn has created a crisis situation for many municipalities, Me.. whinney remains confident of the eCmtom- ic future of Waterloo. - "We have not debentured for four years," she said. "We've really avoided incurring large debts through high interest rates and (it is) my aim to continue to do that." what the city can afford and the services people demanf. _ _ - _. _. great place to live .._ we have the amenities an educated and high-income group demands, we have extremely inex- pensive housing. by comparison to other major centres and, most importantly. we have a co-operative attitude which comes out of our city hall in dealing with "in the past few years growth has just not stopped," she said. "We're not grow- ing at a tremendous rate, but it is a steady, well-planned growth and I think that is very healthy. f "For instance. we've put an addition on the library ... there's an addition going or) the Rink in the Park, we're putting a large addition, as a community room, on the arena in Lakeshore Village and we've purchased land in the east side of the city to move over our works yard. And, the mayor stressed, while the city has not bad to go to the market for funding, there has been "no lack of things going on" in the city over the past year, "Waterloo really seems to still have that spark," Mewhinney continued. "and I'm confident we can maintain that ... every- thing is working in our favor." Waterloo, Carroll pointed out. is a healthy, growing city, and she believes it is the responsibility of council to ensure that the momentum continues. “So," she added, "we do continue to expand our facilities in order to serve the growing population." A few years back, Carroll said, "council set a growth target of approximately three to four per cent and that's really our aim for some time. to attempt to achieve that. "That, she continued. "is about the level of growth that the city can handle reasonably well and still continua to provide services and develop new faeili- ties. " we can maintain that, we will be a healthy and economically viabh comm». nity." ogy and engineering programs at the University of Waterloo (UW) which is "very healthy for the city." The programs offered at our universities, are the ones that are in greatest demand now, Mewhinney said. "They are in areas that are really needed." One example: a main focus in Waterloo has always been its universities and.the current popularity of their programs, especially the business and social work schools at Wilfrid Laurier and the technol- Richard Biggs prospective industries." The big din-ee here, Blues ex- plained. is that "in many communitites in Ontario and Canada there is a tremendous amount of red tape and a backlog created by administrative people and I don't think that exists in Waterloo. “The city realizes that what we have to do is provide help and minimize red tape for people wanting to undertake projects in the city." Despite the fact that Waterloo is cur- rently in an excellent economic position. Riggs believes the major challenges facing council in the future are economic. 2,t,'i,1r1; of the world and the Canadian economi situation, people's expectations have to be lowered and (the city) has to get back to the more basic services," he maintained. "We are going to have to rise to the challenge of cutting the frills from some projects and bringing a sense of economics to all our decisions,“ Biggs stressed. However, he recognizes that doing so will not be an easy task for council, "It's going to be difficult." the alderman admitted. "the city is facing a situation where we have an increasing demand for recreational facilities .., particularly from the west side of the city ..-. where there really aren't any facilities." In addition, he claimed, the city "is Although in the the past the city has had little difficulty in operating within its assessments, in the future council "will have to be very careful not to over- spend." _ "Economics is going to be a big factor in all of our decisions," she maintained. However, the mayor doesn't forsee any major problems with council along these lines because "we haven't done that 1qverspent) in the past and I don't expect we will do it in the future. There's a lot of stability built into our city." The next few years, Carroll said. "are going to be really exciting for the city of Waterloo because of the things that are happening and going to happen." One of council's major accomplishments over 'm. she said, was the presentation of the downtown study and the formation of the Civic Development Committee to implement study recommendations and encourage development in the core area. As a result, much of councll's efforts in the new year will be directed towards the continued revitalization of the core area. "Council," Carroll said. "will be work- ing very hard on getting the zoning right" in the uptown to allow residential use of existing buildings as was recommended in the study. Also, she commented, "I keep hearing complaints about parking. I keep saying ‘that's great.‘ there are lost of cities that are dead on their feet the begging for shoppers and activity in their core area and here we are complaining about park- lug. "tt's a great problem to have," Carroll explained. "became we can solve it. It's a The same goes for UW's Innovation Centre and the closer ties the university is forging with industry in research and development, she added. "It can only help the city." In addition, Mewhinney said. the diver- sified nature of Waterloo's industry, to- gether with the fact that much of the city's existing industry is based "in research and technology. complementing growth at the university," adds to the strength of the city's future economic position. According to the alderman the major programs undertaken by council in 'ttl revolved around economic development in the city, and, although she feels “residen- tial planning and development is really going ahead," Mewhinney was concerned that the "industrial was falling behind." "Certainly," she pointed out. "they have to work together .. or we are not going to have a viable community, but I think we have to put more emphasis into industrial planning. - "it's il tough competitive market and we have to make sure that Waterloo has the resouces to go into that competitive mar- ket. WAYERLOO CHRWICLE. WEDNESDAY, men M. ttNet is PAGE , going to have to look at more Practical solutions for some of the projects that the city does..." According to Biggs "the city must embark on I program of careful evalua- tion of public works projects to determine if they are really necessary ... beenttseave are simply not going to have the money," to do all that council wants done. Stated briefly, Biggs believes that "the number one priority of council has to be to continue to serve our citizens by ensuring that what we have, the downtown area, our current industrial base, our current finan. cial situation, the level of services we provide, remains as healthy as it is today. For Biggs. highlights of 1981 include the acceptance of the downtown study and the subsequent establishment of the Civic Development Committee, the approval of plans for the construction of the Seagram Museum, the resolution of a number of zoning controversies around the city. "so developers and others know what can be done and where," and the completion of the Fischer-Hallman corridor, which he said will not only alleviate some of the traffic bottlenecks in the west side of the city, but will also "become important as a road link for some of the projects contemplated at the University of Water- loo, and its Innovation Centre." According to Carroll. the construction of the Seagram Museum, which was ap- proved by.council earlier this year, will also be a big plus for Waterloo, with the implications of its opening already beconr ing visible in the uptown area. "It is very costly," she admitted. "but I think it has to take precedence over the construction of recreational facilities which will come in time. Without it, we cannot continue to grow." Throughout Waterloo, Carroll mind- ed, "we‘ve got a very positive thing going and l think it's part of emancii‘a responsi- bility to keep that momentum in: to assist the retailers. developers and landowners. little more difficult to solve the problem of actually bringing in people." To further encourage I:Fidents to shop in uptown Waterloo, Ca ll said the city will be attempting to improve bus service to the city core. "Because of the museum," she said, "next year we are going to have to be working on how we are going to attract the tourist. For the first time ... the Seagram Museum is going to bring the tourist dollar into the city of Waterloo," Everything is coming together beau- tifully." the mayor concluded, "with the museum. the core area development -e things are really ticking." Moving from the subject of uptown, the mayor maintains a future priority for council must be to protect industrial land supplies and to get "sewers and services to new industrial land. "Already," Carroll noted. "we are seeing antique shops and that kind of thing springing up here and there." Mary Jane Mewhinney