NORTH PERTH – At its Feb. 13 meeting, North Perth council members were presented with a report from staff in response to the first budget visioning session that took place on Jan. 11. At its first, and only budget meeting this year, council provided their individual visions of what they wanted to be included and prioritized in the 2023 budget. These ideas were then consolidated into a Budget Visioning Registry, to be used for reference as budget talk is set to continue next month.

It was then at the direction of council that management staff met to review and discuss the registry. Staff provided input to each item on the registry, as to whether third-party input is required, if they are a carryover from previous budget, if they are critical right now, do they provide benefit, if they are cost neutral, as well as approximate budget impact and their comments to move forward.

“During the final review of the budget presentation, council will be able to make recommendations on any items that they do not want to move forward in 2023,” explained the report presented to council.

It was found that many items require third-party involvement, and staff requested that the following communication be initiated so that collaboration can take place.

There were many resolutions that directed staff to start these conversations. Firstly, the municipality will send a letter to Perth County to start discussions surrounding traffic flow and congestion on Perth Line 86. Further, staff are to communicate with the City of Stratford’s Social Services Department requesting data on the number and locations of supportive and affordable housing units in their service area and request units for North Perth. Then council is requesting the North Perth Ontario Provincial Police detachment provide updates on their enforcement activities within the municipality. Finally, council will send a letter to the North Perth Recruitment Committee regarding their current framework for health-care professional recruitment. This comes with the recommendation that the committee reach out to neighbouring municipalities to appeal to them to contribute to physician and health-care professional recruitment funding for North Perth.

Melissa Dunphy, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Listowel Banner