Winnipeg, July 13, 2010 – Mayor Sam Katz, Secretary of Urban Aboriginal Affairs, joined by FortWhyte Alive CEO and President Bill Elliot, announced funding of $30,000 for FortWhyte Farms, a program focused on providing urban agricultural training for inner-city youth in Winnipeg.

FortWhyte Farms, launched 2003, was designed to provide hands-on experience in farm operations such as pasture raising of chickens, pigs and bison, beekeeping and gardening to equip inner-city youth between 14 and 18-years-old with meaningful employment skills such as teamwork, leadership, initiative and discipline.

“This new funding allows the program to hire the most interns in the program’s history,” said Mayor Sam Katz. “We have assisted them to hire new staff and expand upon the entire programs current to develop new programming and will create 200 more hours of hands-on training leading more young Winnipeggers to full-time employment at FortWhyte Farms.”

As a social enterprise, FortWhyte farms also operates as a successful small-scale market, teaching youth the far-reaching social and economic benefits that extend into the community. Participants who demonstrate high leadership potential and committmetn to the program are rewarded with full-time summer employment; since 2003, FortWhyte Farms has employed 52 youth – 90 % Aboriginal – as summer interns.

“This support from Mayor Katz is an affirmation of the important work of FortWhyte Farms and will prove invaluable as we continue to expand the program’s reach and impact in the community,” said CEO and President of FortWhyte Alive Bill Elliot. “FortWhyte Alive is proud to be a part of building a healthy and sustainable community for all the people of Winnipeg.”

WINNIPEG - July 13, 2010 - Leisure Guide program registration was the most frequent service request made through Winnipeg’s 311 service between April 1 – June 30, 2010, while transit bus schedules topped the list of requests for information.

Of the 468,039 phone calls and 14,145 emails (via 311@winnipeg.ca) that came to Winnipeg’s 311 contact centre between April 1 and June 30, 2010, 113,458 inquiries were for information about bus schedules and 4,144 were to register for recreation and leisure programs.

The technology behind the 311 service makes it possible to track the progress of inquiries, gather information regarding call volumes and pinpoint what citizens are inquiring about around the clock, 365 days a year.

Some highlights of the 2nd quarter (April 1 – June 30, 2010) include:

• 2,921 calls for service in French
• 71% of calls were for information
• 29% of calls were requests for city services

The top 5 most frequent information requests:

1. Transit bus schedule (113,458 inquiries)
2. Assessment and Tax inquiry (13,065 inquiries)
3. Garbage and recycling (12,033 inquiries)
4. Street maintenance (9,431 inquiries)
5. Recreation and Leisure (8,647 inquiries)

The top 5 most frequent requests for city services:

1. Recreation & Leisure registration ( 4,144 service requests)
2. Parking Authority/ticket payment (3,313 service requests)
3. By-Law enforcement/housing complaint (2,956 service requests)
4. Golf tee time bookings (2,751 service requests)
5. Garbage and recycling/request for bulky pick-up (2,189 service requests)

The top 5 most frequent 311 Self Service requests:

1. Pothole repairs (88 requests)
2. Sidewalk repairs/non -hazardous (26 requests)
3. Street sign installation/removal (44 requests)
4. Transit lost property (28 requests)
5. Graffiti – civic facilities (4 requests)

The next quarterly report will be issued at the beginning of October, 2010 (for the months of July, August and September, 2010).

WINNIPEG - July 13, 2010 - The City of Winnipeg invites residents to an open house to learn about Disaster Financial Assistance and the impact of heavy rain on the city. Some homes were flooded on May 28 - 29, 2010, when 100 -130 millimetres of rain temporarily overwhelmed the City’s sewer and land drainage systems.

A Provincial representative will present information on the Disaster Financial Assistance (DFA) Program. When a widespread disaster strikes and creates an unreasonable financial burden, DFA may be available for eligible costs (e.g., restoration costs not covered by insurance).

City staff will present information on how the City’s sewer system works and what homeowners can do to reduce their risk of basement flooding. During heavy rain, there is a very high risk of overloaded sewers backing up through house sewer lines and flowing into basements that aren’t protected. Our sewer systems, like others everywhere, are not designed for heavy, long duration rain events.

WINNIPEG - July 13, 2010 - In a continuing effort to reduce the mosquito population in Winnipeg, Executive Policy Committee (EPC) will consider a number of recommendations from The City of Winnipeg Public Service.

“We need to take every opportunity to reduce the number of mosquitoes so that we can enjoy our wonderful summers,” said Mayor Sam Katz. “These recommendations from the City of Winnipeg Public Service allow us to review and amend the policies and procedures currently in place and implement a more aggressive mosquito control program.”

The City of Winnipeg is requesting that the Province of Manitoba make changes to the provincial pesticide-use permit to reduce the number of mosquitoes, by;

• reducing the size of buffer zones;
• amending the criterion for fogging from three days to two days;
• reducing the 48-hour notice time for fogging to 24 hours;

The City is also requesting an increase to the amount of new funding provided to the city, including full funding for the current and any expanded larviciding program that is conducted in 10 neighboring Capital Region Municipalities and to assist in transitioning this program to a 100% biological by 2012.

• The City of Winnipeg Public Service is also recommending the following actions.
• decrease the time it takes to fog the entire city from four to five nights per cycle to two to three nights;
• review the process for registering buffer zones as current processes do not require an upfront proof of primary residence or in-person registration, and
• move towards 100% biological control for larviciding by 2012, two years earlier than planned.

Executive Policy Committee will consider the recommendations on Wednesday, July 14, 2010