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13 | W aterloo C hronicle | T hursday,F ebruary 28,2019 w aterloochronicle.ca PUBLIC INFORMATION CENTRE REHABILITATION OF SILVER LAKE, LAUREL CREEK AND WATERLOO PARK DETAILED DESIGN PHASE THE PROJECT The City ofWaterloo is undertaking the detailed design phase of the recommended alternatives presented through a recently completed Class Environmental Assessment. The Environmental Assessment recommended improvements to Laurel Creek upstream of Silver Lake and improvements to Silver Lake. A portion ofWaterloo Park is also being reconstructed as part of the overall project. The inset map shows the extent and location of the work being proposed in the detailed design phase. Channel improvements along Laurel Creek from the LRT tracks to University Avenue will be done to improve fish habitat, terrestrial ecology, the vegetative community and to reduce erosion. Silver Lake improvements will include removal of the accumulated sediment, reconfiguration of the shoreline and construction of a sediment forebay to manage future sedimentation issues.Waterloo Park improvements will include new walkways, lighting, amenities, features of interest and improved pedestrian circulation. The city is carrying out the detailed design of the area in accordance with Phase 5 of Schedule 'B' of the Municipal Engineers Association (MEA) Municipal Class Environmental Assessment, process in compliance with the Ontario Environmental Assessment Act. MEETING DETAILS Public consultation is an important element in this project. The project team invites the public to view the concepts being presented as part of the detailed design of the project. A public information centre will be held at the following time and location: Date March 6, 2019 Time 5:30 to 7:30 pm Place Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex, Room 202 101 Father David Bauer Drive, Waterloo, ON COMMENTS To provide comments or concerns related to this project, please visit engagewr.ca/waterloo or contact the study leaders below: Jessica Kellerman, P.Eng. Project Manager City of Waterloo 100 Regina St. S. PO Box 337, Station Waterloo Waterloo, ON, N2J 4A8 P: 519-886-1550 x78243 E: Jessica.kellerman@waterloo.ca Wolfgang Wolter Senior Project Manager Ecosystem Recovery Inc. 550 Parkside Drive, Unit B1 Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 5V4 Tel: 519-621-1500 ext.101 Fax: 226-240-1080 E: Wolfgang.Wolter@ecosystemrecovery.ca P. 519-886-1550 TTY. 1-866-786-3941 waterloo.ca WATERLOO REGION - Waterloo Regional Police are launching a new re- cruitment and hiring strat- egy to deal with a declining number of applications and a growing demand for new officers. The police services board heard Thursday that the number of applicants for police constable peaked in 2011 at almost 1,000 and has since been decreasing, hitting a low of 380 in 2018. "This isn't an issue spe- cific to our region," said Molly Kimpel, the service's director of human resourc- es. "There is an internation- al challenge of attracting people to a career in polic- ing due to such factors as increased media scrutiny, shift work, the inherent danger of the position, in- crease in mental health is- sues as well as the fact that a good pension and job se- curity may not be as entic- ing to the younger genera- tion." The recently approved budget allows the service to hire an additional 47 mem- bers, but there is also a de- mand for hiring replace- ments as people retire. "One of the challenges that we're facing is signifi- cant attrition," said Chief Bryan Larkin. "We hired a significant number of offi- cers between 1988 to 1992, and they're getting to the stage in their career where they're retirable." To meet the challenge, the police service has mod- ernized and shortened its applicant selection process and is beefing up recruit- ment. The previous applica- tion process took three to four months; it's now been shortened to about three weeks plus a more stream- lined background investi- gation, said Kimpel. In the previous applica- tion process, an applicant had to go through three in- terviews, including one with the chief and deputy chiefs, that have now been changed to a file review. "The chief and the depu- ty chiefs don't interview each applicant, but they are aware of who we are mak- ing offers to before they are made," Kimpel said. The service is also ex- tending how long an appli- cant's certificate of results is valid - to one year from three months - minimizing added renewal costs. "The first step in the con- stable selection system for an applicant is to obtain a certificate of results, which is basic physical and writ- ten testing that an appli- cant needs to apply to most police services in Ontario," Kimpel said. She said the entire pro- cess is more efficient, quicker and gives the ser- vice a competitive edge without lowering stan- dards. Other changes include focusing psychological as- sessments "on resiliency so that our potential recruits understand and have strat- egies in place to cope with the demands of policing," she said, adding that there's also a consideration to con- tract the service's own in- house psychologist for this. The service is looking to hire a firm to help identify untapped markets for ap- plicants and how best to reach them. "We currently have a bid out for a marketing or ad- vertising firm to help us come up with a fulsome re- cruitment campaign," she said. Another strategy being considered is a mentorship program that will help ap- plicants through the appli- cation process. Larkin said he is opti- mistic the service will meet its hiring demands. "For April, we're looking at 25 recruits we hope to hire - we're in the range of 22 right now, so we're well on track," he said. To meet the challenges of attrition, the Waterloo Regional Police service has modernized and shortened its applicant selection process and is beefing up recruitment. Peter Lee, Waterloo Region Record POLICE HAVE NEW STRATEGY TO DEAL WITH TROUBLE RECRUITING LOCAL LAURA BOOTH SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER AT WATERLOOCHRONICLE.CA