With a new council comes new ideas, and the municipality of East Ferris encourages residents to give their input on a new strategic plan. The plan will guide the municipality through 2023 to 2026 by outlining some goals the community wants to see accomplished.
On Thursday, January 12th, the municipality is hosting an open house from 5 to 7 p.m. It’s at the Corbeil Park Hall, and people are encouraged to drop in when they can between those hours to share ideas. Councillors will be there, as will municipal staff. Many notes will be taken.
For those unable to attend the open house, the municipality has created an online survey, accessible on the municipality’s website. The last open house drew 28 residents, and around 100 completed the survey. Not bad, but municipal staff would like to see more input. After all, the plan affects everyone.
See: East Ferris checks strategic plan, aims to become more 'business-friendly'
As for the last plan, “we still have a few items to complete,” explained Jason Trottier, East Ferris’ chief administrative officer. For instance, completing an asset management plan is still in the works, “but will be completed this year.” Same goes for a new procurement by-law.
Sound a little dry? Well for those who aren’t excited by updating municipal procurement laws, Trottier emphasized the strategic plan also focuses on broader issues. For example, he’s noticed that many residents are concerned about too much growth in the region.
“There have been talks in the community about keeping our rurality,” Trottier said, and those broad issues can be a guide for staff and council to create “action items that we can achieve” to maintain those collective goals.
“It’s important for people to come out,” he added, or take the survey. He plans to compare the information from the last survey to the results of this year’s poll as well, to find out how things are progressing.
Overall, a new strategic plan looming on the horizon “is an exciting time” for the municipality, Trottier said. Once complete, it serves “as a guiding document for staff,” and helps steer municipal committees as well.
David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.