Perth East council got an update on how its current strategic plan is going at the April 2 council meeting.
CAO Michael Givens says the current plan was put in place in 2020, in conjunction with the county at large, and it laid out some very simple goals to pay attention to.
"Growth and economic development, ensuring our service is efficiently and effectively moving forward as it relates to the requirements of a municipality to provide those services. Lots of focus around community development and acknowledging more community involvement and participation, whether that's with the municipality itself or with our number of volunteer groups. Overall, too, just our corporate sustainability," Givens shared.
Givens says this plan will be in place as is for a while.
"The intent at this point is to continue to provide regular updates, at least annually to council and the community at large, as to the status of the existing strategic plan. But I envision that probably after the election, that's typically the time when they have a fresh mandate and council wants to revisit the goals and initiatives at that point. So that's the direction moving forward," said Givens.
The plan includes capital projects every year, and there's a few big ones this year, as Givens points out.
"Some major infrastructure projects identified in Milverton, to replace some of our underground infrastructure. We continue to be focused not just on new infrastructure but also maintaining our existing stuff. So a couple of our streets here in Milverton will get some attention, as well as some rural paving projects. These are fairly consistent with the direction we've gone, and things that have been identified in our asset management planning and 5-year capital forecasts," Givens added.
There is also planning for more development in the future and what has gone on recently.
"This year we spent a little more time updating council on some of the development activity here in Perth East. Over the last 3 or 4 years things have progressed quite quickly as it relates to new housing developments, potential for a new industrial park on the edge of Milverton, so, things of that nature are also receiving a lot of focus in Perth East," Givens concluded.
