City of Waterloo’s Service Centre open house returns

The City of Waterloo gave residents an inside look at its Service Centre with its annual open house returning this weekend for the first time since the pandemic began.

On Saturday, attendees were invited to check out the city’s trucks and heavy equipment.

“We showcase the operations aspect of the City of Waterloo, including our parks, our public works in general and operations including water services, city utilities, transportation services,” said Ron Ormson, the commissioner of integrated planning and public works with the City of Waterloo.

The event is aimed at providing awareness and clarity on all that goes on behind the scenes.

“It’s a really good opportunity for the community to see where their tax dollars are going with respect to municipal operations,” said Ormson. “To see where the clean water comes from, see how the parks are maintained, understand what it takes to run the city and keep the roads in good condition.”

Ormson added that often times there’s a misunderstanding about the scale of municipal operations.

“They don’t realize that the city is maintained by a whole fleet of trucks, snow plows and all kinds of specialized equipment to take care of the parks and take care of the roads. So, it’s an eye opener for a lot of people to see what happens out of the operations centre here,” he said.

One resident of Waterloo attended the event and said it was a great opportunity to show her children everything that goes on while learning a lot herself.

“All the gardening and growing their own trees and plants and stuff like that. I just assumed it was all purchased from somewhere else and brought in,” she said.

The event also featured a barbecue with all proceeds going towards Supportive Housing of Waterloo Region.