The Town of South Bruce Peninsula has brought on a consulting firm to head up the rebranding of Sauble Beach.
The town said since the ownership change that led to a renaming of Saugeen Beach, there has been questions regarding the local identity of the Sauble Beach community, so council had set aside $75,000 for an update to the strategy.
On Tuesday, council awarded the rebranding contract to Tante Consulting, a Toronto area firm.
Staff said the bid was one of 13 received, and what set the company apart was their specialities in branding, graphic design, economic development strategy and indigenous engagement.
Mayor Jay Kirkland said the public will be a big part of charting the next steps.
"That's one of the reasons we went this route, to make sure that the community was heard in what they want to see and do in Sauble Beach," he said. "We'll find out, hopefully everybody gets engaged."
Danielle Edwards, Manager of Economic Development told council there will be many opportunities for residents voices to be heard.
"It will be extensive, and it will include a combination of digital surveys, creative workshops both in-person and virtual, community visioning exercises and then in-person pop-up and one-on-one interviews. The engagement will be intense," she said.
During discussions Deputy Mayor Caleb Hull questioned what happens if the report finds they should steer away from the retro Sauble Beach signage that the town recently invested in.
CAO Bill Jones said the public will ultimately decide.
"The outcomes from this might be that people like the retro look," he said. "That might be something that stays, it may not; that's one of the things we're going to find out with this process. Obviously this is happening now because there's been some changes at the beach, and I think it's a great time to see if maybe the previous direction was the right way to go."
The company's bid finished just over $75,000 when HST was included, so the overage will be funded by the Municipal Accommodation Tax reserve.
The anticipated completion date for the project is June 15.
