<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class="">Attention GREN Members who live in the City of Kitchener and Wilmot Township,<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">A reminder that tomorrow (Monday, June 30th) the municipal Staff Reports on the Recommended Growth Options for the Regional Official Plan Review will be coming for approval at:</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><b class="">1) City of Kitchener Council</b> at a Special Council Meeting to held at 12:30pm on Monday - City Staff have taken the extremely unusual route of making no recommendation but are leaving it to Councillors to deliberate at the meeting, determine the recommended Growth Option, and provide the feedback on the Regional Official Plan that they want to send to the Region.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><b class="">2) Township of Wilmot </b>at a 7:00pm Council Meeting on Monday - Township Staff are not recommending any specific Growth Option but instead are simply recommending the maximum population growth that their sewage plant capacity will allow - a very significant 50% growth of another 10,400 new residents.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">I have attached the Staff Reports below. Anyone who is a resident of either of these municipalities is encouraged to e-mail and/or call your Councillors to speak up for the future that you would like to see. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">It is astonishing given the importance of the Regional Official Plan and how much it will determine for the next 30 years - where and how we will grow, what we will protect, what we will destroy, how we will get around, and how well we will be able to respond to climate change, etc. how little time our municipalities have been given to respond. Many Councillors are still not well informed and it is extremely important that they hear from citizens about our concerns and desires for the future.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Myself, Mark Reusser from the Waterloo Federation of Agriculture, and expert planner Kevin Eby are registered to delegate at both council meetings regarding proposed Growth Option #4 that focuses on simpler, more achievable intensification targets, smart growth, and no farmland loss though developers are also registered to speak at each meeting advocating for a far different future. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">We urge you to speak up for Option #4 as well as ask for more time for public engagement. Some additional delegations from the community could be helpful and letters from citizens could prove instrumental to the best possible future outcomes as we saw firsthand last week in Wellesley Township when local citizens spoke up so effectively.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Let me know any questions and please ensure that your voice is heard by your local Council in time for the meetings tomorrow.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Cheers,</div><div class="">Kevin.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">---------------------------</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><b class="">1) City of Kitchener Staff Report for the 12:30pm Monday Special Council Meeting</b></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""></div></body></html>