ARICHAT: The municipality hosted three public engagement sessions last week to get public feedback for their strategic planning process.
On June 14, the Isle Madame New Horizons Seniors Club hosted the first session, then the Louisdale Fire Hall was the site of the June 15 public consultation, followed by the final meeting on June 16 at the St. Peter’s Area Lions Hall.
Warden Amanda Mombourquette said public engagement started two months ago through online sessions which she said were “fairly well attended.”
“From those sessions, plus sessions of council and senior staff at the municipality, we’ve been able to develop some draft goals and objectives that we presented essentially in three open houses to the community,” she said. “This is a not a full-blown strategic planning process, we have a plan in place, but we just felt, given the change in council, the change in staff, and also the change obviously from the pandemic and the impact on our communities, we wanted to at least reach back out to the community, have those discussion and set some priorities over the next couple of years.”
During the regular monthly meeting on Nov. 22, 2021, Mombourquette told council that the Request For Proposals originally provided by staff was not designed to attract a full-fledged strategic plan, which is why $17,000 was allotted and not more money.
Because the municipality already has the 2019-2024 plan, the warden sees this as a way to “refresh” priorities.
While councillors said they wanted to review the plan, District 1 Councillor Shawn Samson hoped the municipality can do better than the low numbers of people who completed the survey in 2019, which was also a problem for District 2 Councillor Michael Diggdon.
Council passed a motion to issue the RFP, then during the regular monthly meeting on April 25, council reviewed correspondence from Fowler Bauld & Mitchell Ltd. (FBM), with quotes for “additional services,” such as a third public meeting.
Mombourquette said the company also suggested another one-hour focus group meeting, and they had estimates for document graphic design enhancements, with costs around $3,815, plus HST, for all three requests.
Council agreed to delay the graphic design request and proceed with the additional meetings.
The warden added the municipal web site includes a survey, and information on focus group sessions, and in-person consultations.
When contacted by The Reporter last week, Mombourquette said there were four over-arching goals, and each has five objectives attached to them. She said the goals are grow the economy, invest in infrastructure, enhance the quality of life, and engage with stakeholders.
“From there, we get into more detail, talking about advancing development in our industrial parks, developing a branding strategy, encouraging housing development, ensuring a welcoming experience, the values of equity, diversity, and inclusion in the county,” she explained. “There’s a whole series of them, including things like fostering strong and consistent relationships with other local governments in our county, such as Potlotek and the St. Peter’s Village Commission.
Consultants FBM of Halifax partnered with Preferred Choice out of Saskatoon to lead the process, Mombourquette noted.
While attendance at the open houses was “low,” the warden said online participation was “quite good,” and over the past two years, councillors have been receiving input from residents as well.
“We’ve also got the survey going and getting some good results from that as well,” she noted. “This is building on the original set of consultations that had happened when the plan was developed in 2018 so we’re kind of combining this with what we had heard and what had come out of the plan last time.”
In addition to what the municipality should and shouldn’t be doing, Mombourquette said input has included visions for the future.
“It’s not just about, ‘we want the municipality to do something,’ it’s really about visioning and what we want our communities to look like in the future,” said the warden. “There’s no question that there’s a whole component where it comes around partnership development, supporting and connecting the citizens and volunteer groups. Those are definitely, I would say, marching orders for the municipality.”
Along with some of the aforementioned goals, the warden said she is particularly interested in ways to leverage funding support for infrastructure, accessibility, as well as adopting and implementing a communication plan.
“So that citizens are consistently getting information in a variety of ways that are accessible and that penetrate deep into the community,” she stated. “We’re really trying to make sure that we get the word out about what’s happening at the county.”
With the open houses and the online results finalized, Mombourquette said the goals and objectives are in draft form, and subject to some tweaking over the summer.
The warden is hoping to have a plan ready for council to review in September, or October.
“Then the hard work starts, starting to action some of these things, and council will have to work with senior staff to look at what’s achievable within those goal areas and objectives, and what’s most important,” she added. “Then we’ll have start working away at an action plan, delegating responsibility.”