<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=us-ascii"></head><div><blockquote type="cite" style="background-color: rgb(242, 242, 242);"><div leftmargin="0" marginwidth="0" topmargin="0" marginheight="0" offset="0" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: static; z-index: auto; height: 100% !important; width: 100% !important;"><center><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" height="100%" width="100%" id="bodyTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: static; z-index: auto; height: 100% !important; width: 100% !important;"><tbody><tr><td align="center" valign="top" id="bodyCell" style="margin: 0px; padding: 20px; height: 100% !important; width: 100% !important; border-top-width: 0px;"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="600" id="templateContainer" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px; position: static; z-index: auto;"><tbody><tr><td align="center" valign="top"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="600" id="templateHeader" style="border-collapse: collapse; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px;"><tbody><tr><td valign="top" class="headerContainer"><table class="mcnImageBlock" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><tbody class="mcnImageBlockOuter"><tr><td class="mcnImageBlockInner" valign="top" style="padding: 9px;"><table class="mcnImageContentContainer" align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><tbody><tr><td class="mcnImageContent" valign="top" style="padding: 0px 9px;"></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td align="center" valign="top"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="600" id="templateBody" style="border-collapse: collapse; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px;"><tbody><tr><td valign="top" class="bodyContainer"><table class="mcnTextBlock" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><tbody class="mcnTextBlockOuter"><tr><td class="mcnTextBlockInner" valign="top"><table class="mcnTextContentContainer" align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="600" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><tbody><tr><td class="mcnTextContent" valign="top" style="color: rgb(96, 96, 96); font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; padding: 9px 18px;"><h1 style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 40px; line-height: 50px; letter-spacing: -1px;">Big News: Settlement Reached</h1><h3 style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: -0.5px;">Deal still must be approved by the OMB</h3><p style="margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px;">This morning, the Region of Waterloo <a href="http://smartgrowthwaterloo.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8503862a4d025da42ef96c95d&id=ab48978a0e&e=a7bb7767c7" target="_blank" style="word-wrap: break-word; color: rgb(109, 198, 221); text-decoration: underline;">announced</a> that they have reached a settlement on the Ontario Municipal Board case on the Regional Official Plan. The deal, which still must be approved by the Ontario Municipal Board, will allocate 255 hectares of new land for urban development, instead of the 1053 hectares that were sought by greenfield developers, to settle the original dispute. About 200 additional hectares will be opened to accommodate new higher population forecasts for the area over the next few years.</p><p style="margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px;">While certainly a compromise, the deal will allow us to contain urban sprawl and build more liveable cities while protecting our farmland and environmentally sensitive areas. We no longer must rely on the unpredictability of the courts to fix the mess left by the OMB, and we can move forward with our community's commitment to smart growth.<br><br>You can learn more at the links below.<br><br>We want to offer you all our congratulations on this moment of success, and to thank you for your support over the last few years. Yet there is still work to do to protect our rural areas and strengthen our urban areas. We'll need your help in the future to ensure our community can grow up instead of our, and we'll be in touch about next steps for Smart Growth Waterloo Region.</p></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td align="center" valign="top"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="600" id="templateColumns" style="border-collapse: collapse; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px;"><tbody><tr><td align="left" valign="top" class="columnsContainer" width="50%"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" class="templateColumn" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><tbody><tr><td valign="top" class="leftColumnContainer"><table class="mcnCaptionBlock" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><tbody class="mcnCaptionBlockOuter"><tr><td class="mcnCaptionBlockInner" valign="top" style="padding: 9px;"><table class="mcnCaptionBottomContent" align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="false" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><tbody><tr><td class="mcnCaptionBottomImageContent" align="left" valign="top" style="padding: 0px 9px 9px;"></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></center></div></blockquote></div></body></html>