Town adopts new community vision

The new year will bring some new changes to Sackville town hall.

Town council and staff will move forward on a new vision for the community that will guide them through the next five years.

Council adopted a newly-developed strategic plan during its monthly meeting Monday night, a plan that sets out a long list of priority items that will build on the continued growth of the municipality.

"It's a good plan to start 2010 on," said Mayor Pat Estabrooks after council unanimously voted to approve the plan.

Estabrooks said the document provides a framework council and staff can work from as the town forges ahead.

"And I think the best part of this plan is that it wasn't just our ideas (that went into the document). We had recommendations and suggestions from many people in the community," she said.

Mount Allison University professor Michael Fox, along with several students in his community planning class, developed the town's strategic plan over the past year.

Fox and his students spent the summer interviewing close to 200 local citizens who wanted to be part of the planning process. He said this provided a "grassroots consultation" in which many issues were discussed - from community values to economic development and tourism, and from residents' expectations to unmet needs.

There are 30 action items listed in the plan, everything from developing a multi-year financial plan to moving away from the liaison councillor model to revising council's monthly meeting format to developing a comprehensive communications strategy for the town and implementing a wireless network for the downtown core.

Open, accessible and transparent local government is a top priority listed in the plan and this means communications will need to be enhanced with residents, businesses, Mount A students and staff, and other community partners. The plan suggested this could be achieved through "increased public input and engagement" in the planning and policy process, and reporting to taxpayers on critical financial documents and plans.

The plan also stresses the need to recruit a new Chief Administrative Officer. But this time around, it has been suggested council, in consultation with the community, develop a CAO bylaw to provide a clear description and good governance model that would "set out a process to hire, recruit and measure results."

Other action items listed in the plan include: investing in an economic and human capital strategy; developing a long-term tourism and economic development plan; developing a communications strategy; developing a regional jobs strategy; study the feasibility of a transit link to Moncton/Dieppe; developing a doctor recruitment strategy; among other things.

Because the plan was adopted only in principle, changes can be made to the document. Estabrooks said staff andcouncil will meet early in the new year to review the suggested action items and to start prioritizing the list.