The final Neighbourhood Nights event will take place in Ward 4 on Thursday, Aug. 10, from 6-8 p.m., where residents are invited to gather at Innisfil Beach Park.
A member of town council for a second term, as one voice of nine, Coun. Alex Waters says he looks forward to the work that council will continue to achieve as a cohesive unit.
An expert in environmental sustainability, Waters worked as a senior manager and educator at the Kortright Centre for Conservation for more than 30 years. He was responsible for designing and implementing educational programs as the national education director at Ducks Unlimited Canada, and he served on the board of directors of the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority from 2018 to 2022.
He says his expertise serves him well, as his constituents near the lake have had issues with flooding. In fact, dealing with the issues of flooding was one of the main pain points that Waters sought to rectify when he ran as Ward 4 councillor in 2018.
In addition to effectively lobbying for the diversion of the Park Road Creek that was flooding the front yards of some of the residents in his ward, Waters says he was happy to be a part of the council that ushered in a wave of progress and sustainability in the town of Innisfil, as the municipality now has an annual review of the town’s sustainability report, the Orbit Potential and Innovation Plan (OPIP) that preserves farmland by building up instead of out is underway, and a Habitat for Humanity’s multi-unit building will be constructed according to passive house regulations.
According to Passive Homes Canada, a “passive house is recognized by the United Nations as the optimal way to build healthy, climate-resilient, affordable, and energy-efficient residential, institutional, and commercial buildings through all stages of design, construction, and livability.”
Waters built Innisfil's first passive house after he retired; he told InnisfilToday that passive homes are designed to adhere to the most stringent regulations in international energy standards.
He explained that, unlike other energy standards that simply provide a list of what must be done to qualify, passive homes are tested after they are built to ensure that everything is operating as it should be.
Though he is the first in his family to serve on town council, working within environmental sustainability is a family tradition, as his wife, Sylvia, is newly retired from a career in the industry. Their two children, Danielle and Michael, are professionals as a city planner and landscape architect respectively.
A family-friendly event, the town has noted the Mobile Youth Centre will be on-site Thursday to offer life-size board games, lawn games and more.
In addition to meeting the ward councillor, residents can also meet with town staff and community partners including the Innisfil ideaLAB & Library, InnPower and InnServices.
To find out which ward you live in, check out the town's ward map by clicking here.
