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In an effort to be proactive with the development of the
Municipality of Kincardine, council has agreed to conduct a
community planning exercise, with a draft plan by December of this
year.
In committee-of-the-whole May 13, chief administrative officer John
deRosenroll said the value of establishing a community plan is the
ability to plan for the future, establish a collective vision,
maximize resources and communicate priorities.
It will involve a working group, consisting of council, senior
managers, employee groups, the Chamber of Commerce, Business
Improvement Area, and representatives from agriculture, industry,
health care, education, ministerial, tourism and other key community
groups such as seniors, youth, Bruce Telecom Board and citizens.
A community survey will be done to gather public opinion on what the
future of Kincardine will look like. This will be followed by a
series of workshops to set the core values of the municipality;
examine the municipality's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and
threats; and establish a vision and a mission statement for various
sectors of the municipality such as the economy, cultural and
community activities, and planning and growth.
The results of the workshops will be put together in the community
plan and that will be presented to the working group, the public
through the municipal web page, at a public meeting, and then to
council.
The project is designed to be conducted in-house so the actual cost
will be just the time of the participants.
Councillor Gordon Campbell said the municipality already has too
many studies going on at once. "This is a waste of time and money,"
he said. "If we need a study so badly, go back to what (councillor)
Marsha (Leggett) suggested and look at that." [Earlier this year,
Leggett called for a review of council, senior managers and staff of
the municipality but that was rejected during budget talks due to
the $125,000 cost.]
"Any organization with multiple departments has to have a common
road map," said councillor Kenneth Craig. "That sets the mission,
vision and direction for the municipality. A long-range map is a
good idea." (next column)
19/05/2009 08:31 PM
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Councillor Guy Anderson agreed, provided the plan is done in-house and
there is good public involvement.
"This is an important exercise," said mayor Larry Kraemer. "We need some
sort of guidance."
"We can look at everything in every department," said councillor Ron
Hewitt. "If there is a problem with management or council, let's get it
worked out."
"I'm fine with us doing this at the committee level and then bringing it
to council," said Campbell.
"So, we want to do another plan?' asked councillor Randy Roppel. "I
think we have too many things going on right now. This should go on the
back burner until we get some other issues completed. We're trying to
force an issue that does not need to be brought out now. I want to see
the structure, time frame, work plan and how to implement it so we're
not overworking anybody."
Council agreed to forge ahead with the community plan.
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