Limerick discusses Community Improvement Plan
At their June 17 meeting, Limerick Township council talked about their Community Improvement Plan, which is in fact their Strategic Plan by another name. Councillor Jan MacKillican presented the CIP to council for discussion, questions and feedback. CAO Victoria Tisdale says the CIP committee plans to meet again in July and bring a full workable plan back to council by August or September.
Limerick Township’s Strategic Plan, or CIP discussed at the June 17 meeting was facilitated by MacKillican, Councillor Shawn Pack, and Tisdale, with help from the community participating in exercises to provide feedback and assistance. Tisdale says they did not use a consulting firm for the process. The CIP committee consists of MacKillican, Pack, Tisdale, and community members Allen Downey, Lloyd Bailey, Mike Stevens, Selena Bruni, Veronica Michaud and Trevor Minnie.
A municipal strategic plan allows a township council to define their vision for the future and identify their goals and objectives. The process includes establishing the sequence in which these goals should be realized so that the municipality can reach its stated vision.
Mayor Kim Carson introduced the draft CIP at the June 17 meeting and invited MacKillican to speak on it. The latter said that there had been a fair amount of engagement.
“Last year we did the survey and open house to get community input and ideas for improving economic development and what kinds of activities they’d like to see. This year we sent out a letter to our constituents for feedback and we did get a fair amount of feedback. We also asked if they wanted to be on the [CIP] committee to develop the Strategic Plan and document. And so, we did those things. So, with all that input, we also looked at the data from the census and [Hastings County] and then went forward. Coming out of that, we developed a vision statement and also a mission statement and that’s what you have,” she says.
MacKillican went through the document compiled thus far, with the vision statement (advancing a culture that supports the development of a sustainable community aligned with the stewardship of our natural environment) and mission statements (to guide growth to the community as it comes to Limerick Township and we strive to protect and enhance the natural environment and culture of Limerick Township by promoting stewardship of the land. We want to do this while funding the municipality in a manner that maximizes services and minimizes the costs of those services).
MacKillican said that unlike some other municipalities, Limerick already had their tagline, which is “Wildly Authentic.” She also pointed out that they wanted this CIP to be a document not just for this council but one that will be useable for future councils; a “living, breathing document.”
MacKillican brought up and briefly touched on the values highlighted during the CIP engagement process; authentic, pride, supportive, diversity, safety, helpful, rural and quiet. She also spoke of the overall goals as defined in this draft CIP; guiding growth, protect and enhance our environment and culture, and fund the township in a manner that maximizes services and minimizes costs.
Corporate values highlighted during the plan process included; service oriented, caring, fiscally responsible, collaborative, and enthusiastic.
MacKillican said that she and the other committee members were looking for feedback from council that day on the draft plan. Carson said she thought it was well done and thanked them for all their hard work. There were no other comments from council at that time, so MacKillican asked them to forward any feedback to her or Tisdale by June 24 so they could look at it and get it ready for the next committee meeting. Tisdale says the committee hopes to bring back a full, workable plan to the August or September meeting. They’ll be meeting again in July, with the day and time to be determined.
Tisdale told The Bancroft Times that she thought MacKillican’s presentation went well.
“We are still working through the plan but the key points were addressed for council’s review.”
Michael Riley, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Bancroft Times
