People are being asked to weigh in on how and on what Sarnia council should focus strategically for the next several years.
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A survey at speakupsarnia.ca invites public input on a strategic plan for council, until 4 pm March 29.
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In-person events are also being planned, but there were no details yet posted on the site as of Monday.
Officials with Deloitte LLP, hired for $58,000 to craft the plan, picked council members’ brains for ideas recently.
“This is the first of many conversations we’re going to have as we continue to work through this process,” Deloitte managing director Trudy Parsons said during a Feb. 27 strategic planning session with council.
One-on-one interviews with council members and senior city staffers is also part of the process, as well as public engagement, she said.
Council, over about three hours, considered different preliminary options for their vision over the next four to five years — supporting people, having a connected community, being caring and innovative, and growth were among the points reviewed — and ways to get there.
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Councilors Dave Boushy and George Vandenberg were absent.
Guiding principles collectively topping council’s list included being innovative, collaborative, honest, brave and respectful.
As priorities over the next three or four years, council flagged housing and homelessness and managing assets like city infrastructure as most important, followed by having good relations with provincial and federal levels of government — key for grant funding for infrastructure projects — improving safety, and promoting business attraction and tourism.
Top-voted ideas for those included:
• Asset management: Investing in active transportation, Canatara Park and the city’s waterfront.
• Housing and homelessness: Allowing smaller square-footage builds, and reducing permit costs to encourage home building on vacant lots.
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• Intergovernmental relations: Inviting senior government ministers to summits in Sarnia and encouraging more engagement with area parliamentary representatives;
• Community safety: Encouraging neighborhood watches and advocating for changes to Canada’s lease system.
• Business growth and tourism: Marketing the area’s advantages, like its waterfront, telling its history, encouraging more harbor use, and celebrating the area’s strong labor history.
Sarnia’s current vision statement, “Sarnia, the place you want to be,” dates from about 2017, said Deloitte’s Erik Lockhart.
A straw poll of council found mixed levels of support for having a vision along those same lines.
Generally, councilors said they want something more aspirational, and something that sounds unique to Sarnia.
It’s also important to tie in with the area’s history of innovation, and Lambton County’s Discoveries that Matter slogan, said Coun. Anne Marie Gillis.
A final plan is expected back to council in July, Parsons said.
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