Clinic is open and ready for the future

 

The opportunity has come to voice opinions about what the future of South Dundas should look like.

On March 21st and 22nd, South Dundas township is hosting four Community Vision Cafés, each in a different South Dundas location.

Chief Administrative Officer Stephen McDonald first approached council with the “Proposal for a Community Wide Strategic Plan” at the November 1, 2011 council meeting.

Once approved, McDonald set to work gathering bids for consulting firms, of which he received 10 entries. Council agreed, at the December 20, 2011 council meeting to hire Dillon Consulting Limited, an Ottawa-based company, for a cost of $24,870 plus HST.

In early March 2012, McDonald sent The Leader excerpts from the Dillon Consulting Limited’s plan document, outlining the details and expectations for the Community Vision Cafés.

The format for the cafés are described as follows: “The workshops provide an opportunity for participants to learn about the Community Strategic Plan project, the results of our initial review/ survey/ photo journal, and meet other residents and business owners to discuss the strengths, opportunities and vision for the future.”

In addition, it is suggested that “participants should have four to six major strategic directions/ themes/ priorities listed, and may have also identified some early specific actions for the strategic plan.”

“At the closure of the session, we will ask participants to specifically sign-up as champions for action planning later in the Strategic Planning process.”

According to McDonald, a status report will be ready for council to consider in April and, following this, an implementation plan will be presented in June. Council will then decide how and when to move forward with the findings.

[…]

 

The Township of South Dundas moved forward with the action planning phase of their community strategic plan on May 30th at Matilda Hall in Dixon’s Corners.

The South Dundas public was invited to participate in creating action plans based on the six key themes originally identified by the public during the community cafés held in March.

The six themes were:

• Implement beautification projects to strengthen our sense of pride and community;

• Strengthen South Dundas’ agricultural sector through partnerships with the tourism industry;

• Sustain South Dundas’ small town lifestyle through appropriate development;

• Support business expansion and job creation;

• Create a municipal identity that will celebrate South Dundas’ rich history and culture; and,

• Create recreational programs,  opportunities and facilities that will attract and retain families, children and youth.

Turnout for the action planning meetings was small, with approximately six people for the afternoon sessions and 10 for the evening sessions.

“I was certainly hoping for more people,” said South Dundas mayor Steven Byvelds. 

“Hopefully, there’s a few others that will put some things online,” he continued, referring to the dedicated email address for strategic plan ideas (csp@southdundas.com). “There’s always an opportunity to send comments in.”

According to Sari Liem of Dillon Consulting, the firm hired to develop the plan, the idea behind the action planning is to “turn wishes into strategic direction.”

During the Community Cafés, public participants made wishes for the township. Liem explained, “we’re going through the wishes and building upon them, turning them into goals.” She referred to this as “informed direction.”

“We’re fleshing out specific actions,” she said. “This is all meant to be building blocks.”

The specific actions, once identified, were then put into a time frame of short term (0 to 2 years), mid term (3 to 5 years), and long term (6 to 10 years), with an emphasis on short term.  

Each of the six action planning groups followed this process when developing their plans. 

In addition to creating action plans, each group identified possible partnerships and alliances that might be pursued in making the actions a reality. 

Liem explained that the community strategic plan is a ‘living’ document, meaning that it is fluid and open to change at any time.

Reminded of past strategic plans and the failures to follow through on those plans, Byvelds emphasized that “we’re committed to at least trying our best to make this strategic plan work. It’s not going to sit on a shelf.”

Armed with the public’s ideas, Dillon Consulting will create a recommended vision statement for South Dundas. In addition to this, an implementation strategy, complete with a time line for action, will be provided.

When ready, Dillon Consulting will present the final report to council for approval and, following council’s approval, it will then be released to the public.

South Dundas economic development officer Nicole Sullivan pointed out that “we’re not doing this because we have a problem, we’re doing this to be proactive and plan for the future.”

[…]

The standing proposal for the Morrisburg and District Lions Club to install finger docks at the Morrisburg waterfront has undergone some minor changes.

Although the club had hoped the project would have been done for the past boating season, the original supplier felt that product would not be suitable for the application, so the club was sent looking for a new supplier.

They have selected a new supplier, but there have been some minor changes in the proposal that needed approval of the Morrisburg Waterfront Advisory Committee and South Dundas council before the purchase could be finalized.

The warranty on the new system, which is more suitable for commercial application, is less than the original proposal, at only five years. The new system will also require some concrete work along the shoreline for mounting purposes.

As in the original proposal, the Morrisburg and District Lions Club will cover all costs for the purchase, delivery and installation of the finger docks, will cover all costs to build/install access to the docking facility and will work with the municipality to obtain necessary approvals and permits.

The docks will become the property of the Municipality of South Dundas.

The Lions Club plans for the installation of the 48’ dock to take place in the spring of 2014.

[…]