Chairman's Message


Message from Bill Fisch, Chairman and CEO

Bill Fisch, Chairman and C.E.O.

It is my pleasure to welcome you to our special Web site for the residents and stakeholders of the 16th Avenue Trunk Sewer Project. This site has been created to keep you completely informed on all aspects of the project as it progresses and to keep us continuously informed of your concerns, comments and suggestions.

This site is one of the ways York Region is meeting its Goal #8 in the 20 Year Strategic Plan. This goal statement says, "Engaged communities and a responsive region." This means:
  • Engaging our residents in decisions that affect their lives
  • Enhancing two-way communication with citizens, including the use of technology to exchange information
  • Using meaningful consultation to develop effective solutions together with citizens and neighbourhood groups

Through this site we will provide virtually all the information residents may want about the project. More importantly, this highly interactive Web site encourages residents and stakeholder to provide feedback on the project through such features as comments within certain items and an ever-present Tell Us "sticky" on the left where you can provide comments, suggestions and advice as well as sign up for a notification service. All comments, suggestions, questions and complaints will be answered so that you know your concerns were considered.

This Web site is just one of York Region's innovative approaches to providing meaningful public consultation with its residents and stakeholders. We call it "constructive engagement" because we want to undertake our infrastructure projects in a manner that engages residents from the early environmental and engineering studies through to the actual construction stage.

We are using a wide variety of Public Information Forums, Project Advisory Committees, Outreach Programs, plain language "primers" and newsletters, etc. to involve and engage area residents in all aspects of these major infrastructure projects. Although you may not see all of your suggestions and concerns implemented, I want you to know that your concerns are taken seriously, and adopted where possible. Where our staff or consultants do not adopt your advice, you will receive a detailed explanation. My hope is that these innovations will contribute to the development of more positive feeling about how we do these projects and fewer unresolved complaints.

I encourage you to sign-up for our automatic notification feature that will keep you informed of new developments as the project unfolds. And we would like to know what you think of this new Web site. All of your comments and suggestions are welcome and will be used to continuously improve this means of communicating with you.

Yours truly,

Bill Fisch
Chairman and CEO
The Regional Municipality of York