Kincardine residents can help shape the future of the community by answering a brief questionnaire.
Mayor Ken Craig said they want to hear about people's priorities to help create a strategic plan to guide council for the next four years. He said they currently have a variety of master plans, but need a roadmap to reach their goals.
"So we have a consolidated strategic plan, which has brought in our waterfront master plan, our cycling master plan, our roads master plan, our housing master plan. You know, there's a group of master plans that have been consolidated," Craig explained. "But we are trying to incorporate all of those pieces into a plan that will help finish our term of council strong."
He added the plan will help the next council start out with a good understand of the issues and priorities.
"Inevitably talk about the effects of the expanding nuclear industry in our community. We'll talk about the need for improvements in our recreation facilities," he pointed out. "And we'll talk about the importance of this basic infrastructure, like roads and water, sanitary, the value of our downtown core, of our lakeshore, of our waterfront, of our agricultural communities, and what part does the municipality play in any of those sectors."
Craig said Linton Consulting will help them gather all of the information together..
"When we get the public input, it will be made into a concise report, and then the council and staff will be having a couple of intensive days of workshops to make sure that the information we received from the public, the plans that staff have in place already, and the recommendations from Council are all brought together so that there can be a document produced that says for the next four years there are the three, four, or five highlights. There are secondary projects. It provides a great opportunity for budgeting to say, yes, we're going to support this, or for other projects, yes, it's a great project, but no, it's not one of our priorities at this time," said Craig.
He said a strategic plan will narrow their focus, and keep the municipality sustainable and productive.
"A Strategic Plan kind of embeds a character of a community. It allows businesses, and families, to plan for the future and say this place is a great place to stay, not just for this week, but for the long term," he explained. "We thank everyone in advance for their participation. Together, we can make the Municipality of Kincardine an even better place to live, work, and play."
The five minute questionnaire is available online until August 9 at www.surveymonkey.com/r/MoK.
Paper copies are also available at the Municipal Administration Centre at 1475 Concession 5, R.R. #5, Kincardine for those who can’t complete it online.
