City ward meetings begin Tuesday evening with councillor Gary Kaschak
The City of Windsor begins hosting its annual ward meetings this week starting with ward 8 on Tuesday evening.
The meetings give residents a chance to attend and share their thoughts on the neighbourhood issues that are important to them and affect their ward.
Tuesday's meeting will take place at the Serbian Centre, 6770 Tecumseh Road E starting at 6:30 p.m.
Ward 8 councillor Gary Kaschak says this year marks the return of in-person meetings since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"2020 and 2021, you know we had these done by telephone conference and what not, so this is good, we get back into a room full of people and they can ask some questions. We'll have city administration there, of course representatives from Enwin and police. And I'll outline some of the highlights here from the last year or two and then we'll see what the residents have to say."
He says some of the ward highlights include continued improvement to parks and road and sewer work, but he also expects to hear feedback from residents.
"Certainly we have some challenges of course, you know we've got a couple older buildings in the ward that have now been sitting for a while. The former St. Jules school is still problematic with being closed for so many years. Saint Vincent De Paul church has been closed for about eight months, and there's a new owner, people are wondering what's going on there, is it going to be developed, et cetera."
Representatives from the finance department will be on hand to help residents take advantage of the budget balancing simulation, tax receipt generator and prioritize engagement tools.
The city says the tools help keep the community informed and educated on where their property taxes are being spent, and provide an excellent opportunity for residents to make known what their spending priorities are.
Kaschak says he likes the tools because it allows residents to see where their tax dollars go.
"I always love that pie chart that shows if you pay $3,000 in city property taxes where it all went, and that's eye opening to a lot of people because they think it just goes to garbage pickup or snow cleaning, but there's 20-25 things that go into property taxes. We like people to see where their money is going and we also like to have some input."
City of Windsor 2023 ward meeting schedule. Subject to change. September 29, 2023.
The next ward meeting is with councillor Mark McKenzie in Ward 4 on Wednesday, October 11 at the Caboto Club.
Anyone who cannot attend a ward meeting but would still like to have their say is encouraged to call 311, Monday to Friday (excluding holidays) 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. or visit CityWindsor.ca/CustomerService.