This Tuesday, council approved and released a document outlining six strategic pillars containing eleven priorities in the coming year. Within each of the priorities fall specific projects, the steps required to move each forward, and a member of council or staff assigned to work on it.
The plan was developed following two “retreat style” day-long meetings, and a great deal of emails sent back and forth over 2.5 months, facilitated by Andrea Verwey and Joyce Ganong.
Prior to the official approval of the plan, Mayor Skeels explained that council sorted all of the proposed priorities and projects into groups.
“In simple terms, we had to deal with outstanding infrastructure and administrative issues, and move ahead with some important projects,” said Skeels. “Our overarching goal is to build community, and an important part of that is achieving a balance where a broad cross-section of our community can feel that the things that matter to them are being addressed.”
The strategic pillars of the plan include protecting and preserving unique ecosystems, maintaining accountable and effective government, enhancing the caring community of Bowen Island, supporting a diverse population, minimizing Bowen’s ecological footprint, and creating a robust and resilient local economy. These tie in directly to the 12 Goals of the OCP, the Vision and the Mission of the Municipality.
“Continue to plan for a new fire hall,” for example, falls under the strategic pillar of building a vibrant community. The success of this project will be realized when, by January of 2016, The Undercurrent runs a photo of the sign on the new fire hall site with a story on when the shovels will hit the ground to accompany it.
Facilitator Joyce Ganong, who at the swearing-in of this council in December, urged a focus on values, says this council created a draft set of values that is included in the 2015 Island Plan. They want input from the community on them.
“When they discussed values, it was about how we as Bowen Islanders relate to one another, how we communicate, and how we make decisions,” says Ganong.
She adds that in the process of developing the priorities and the values, it was exciting to see the group becoming a team.
