2023-2033 Strategic Plan: Blueprint for our Future

Township of Huron-Kinloss Council Approves New Strategic Plan: Blueprint for our Future

On January 15th, 2024, Council was presented with the final draft of the 2023-2033 Strategic Plan: Blueprint for our Future. The Plan includes a new vision and mission statement, guiding principles and strategic priority areas.

“The new Strategic Plan was a labour of love and represents what we heard from Staff, Council, and the community. We heard loud and clear what is important to the community: our rural lifestyle, the environment, our agricultural roots, taking care of each other, using our resources responsibly and much more. We are committed to working together to achieve our new vision for Huron-Kinloss, and I hope the community continues to be engaged and involved as we move through the implementation stage of the plan,” said Mary Rose Walden, CAO.

A vision statement is meant to describe the Township’s desired future state. This statement is the long-term goal and what we are working towards. The new statement is reflective of what we heard from Staff, Council and the community and something to be proud to look back on 10 years from now to see all of the achievements that were made.

Vision: A unified, engaged, and caring community that cultivates opportunities and embraces our rural lifestyle.

A mission statement is our purpose. It’s why we exist as an organization and drives our work to achieve our vision for Huron-Kinloss.

Mission: We deliver services that responsibly utilize resources, respect our environment, and foster a community ready to shape its future.

Guiding principles are our values. These values will not be compromised while working to achieve our vision and are meant to guide Staff and Council decisions and the work that we do.

Guiding Principles:

• Inclusive and Welcoming
• Open and Transparent
• Organizational Excellence
• Accountability
• Kindness

Finally, to see all of this through and achieve our shared vision for Huron-Kinloss, we need action! Actions are categorized into four strategic priority areas. By achieving these actions, we get closer to realizing our vision of a unified, caring and engaged community that cultivates opportunities and embraces its rural lifestyle.

The four strategic priority areas are:

• Embrace the thriving rural lifestyle
• Enhance municipal service delivery
• Prepare for inclusive growth
• Ensure financial stability

Staff will be presenting the Integrated Master Plan to Council on February 5th, 2024, which includes all of the actions within these strategic priorities. The Integrated Master Plan will be our road map; it is a living document that is consistently updated as initiatives are completed, and as new issues or opportunities arise.

“The Integrated Master Plan is our commitment to Staff, Council and the community that we will continue to build Huron-Kinloss in a way we can all be proud of. It will hold us accountable to our shared vision and ensure we are doing everything we can to deliver on the expectations of our community. I’m proud to be Mayor of this incredible community and I’m excited to be a part of our continued growth and success,” commented Mayor Don Murray.

The new Plan would not be what it is today without the feedback received from the community. Unprecedented engagement on this project included over 200 survey responses, over 120 workshop participants, 8 youth workshops, 1 workshop with Mennonite Leaders, over 20 one-on-one interviews, and numerous conversations are what built the foundation for this plan. We would like to extend our thanks to everyone who participated, and we look forward to demonstrating how this plan will turn into action

To view the full 2023-2033 Strategic Plan: Blueprint for our Future please visit our website https://www.huronkinloss.com/town-hall/mission-and-vision/

Township of Huron-Kinloss Council will be provided with a presentation of the Final Draft of the 2023-2033 Strategic Plan: Blueprint for our Future on January 15th 2024 at 10AM. The presentation will take place in Council Chambers at 21 Queen St. Ripley.

We would like to extend our thanks to everyone that participated in the preparation of the strategic plan, we had unprecedented engagement from Staff, Council and the Community for this project. The final plan is a great representation of what we heard from our engagement sessions and we are excited to work with the community to achieve our collective vision for Huron-Kinloss.

Draft Vision:

A unified, engaged and caring community that cultivates opportunities and embraces our rural lifestyle.

Draft Mission:

We deliver services that responsibly utilize resources, respect our environment, and foster a community ready to shape its future.

Draft Guiding Principles:

• Inclusive and Welcoming
• Open and Transparent
• Organizational Excellence
• Accountability
• Kindness

Draft Strategic Directions:

• Embrace the thriving rural lifestyle
• Enhance municipal service delivery
• Prepare for inclusive growth
• Ensure financial stability

To learn more about the plan and how it was created, please review the following documents:

• Council Presentation January 15th 2024
• Final Draft 2023-2033 Strategic Plan: Blueprint for our Future
• November 21st Community Workshop information (incl. key findings to date, draft vision and mission, etc.)

If you have any questions about the 2023-2033 Strategic Plan: Blueprint for our Future please contact Michelle at mgoetz@huronkinloss.com or 519-395-3735.

Thank you for participating in the development of the 2023-2033 Huron-Kinloss Strategic Plan: Blueprint for our Future.

The final draft of the plan will be presented to Council on Monday January 15th 2023 at 10AM. The presentation will take place in Council Chambers located at 21 Queen St. Ripley Ontario.

Copies of the draft plan will be available by Friday January 12th on Haveyoursayhk.ca and in our Council agenda package located on Huronkinloss.com

If you have any questions about the Strategic Plan project please contact mgoetz@huronkinloss.com or 519-395-3735.

At the community workshop on November 21st, the Deloitte team will be presenting:

• Key findings to date
• Draft vision, mission, and guiding principles
• Next steps

The presentation being shared at the workshop is available to review prior to the meeting.

Community Workshop #4

The workshop is being held November 21st, 2023 on Zoom from 6:30-8PM, registration is required to receive the zoom link.

Please register to attend either virtually or in-person on Event Brite.

If you are unable to attend the meeting virtually, we will be broadcasting the meeting in Council Chambers and a staff member will be available to input your questions and comments into the Zoom chat. Doors will open at 6:15PM, please arrive prior to the 6:30PM meeting start time to avoid disruptions for the other attendees.

Our final community workshop will be held virtually on Zoom on November 21st from 6:30PM-8:00PM.

Please register for the workshop so we can send you the zoom link. If you are unable to join from home, we will be broadcasting the meeting from Council Chambers located at 21 Queen St. Ripley. Council Chambers will be open from 6:15PM-8:15PM to view and participate in the community workshop. We will have a staff person there to enter any comments or questions into the chat on behalf of the participants in Council Chambers.

Register for the Workshop here

The final workshop and presentation will include the following:

• Key findings to date
• Draft mission, vision, guiding principles
• Next steps

Members of the Deloitte team will be asking for your thoughts and feedback on the above items.

If you have any questions please contact Michelle at mgoetz@huronkinloss.com or 519-395-3735 ex. 156

Thank you to all the dedicated community members that took time out of their day to attend the Point Clark and Lucknow community workshops for our Strategic Plan! Deloitte facilitated great discussions within both communities that highlighted your priorities and things you love about Huron-Kinloss.

A few of the key priorities identified by the group include:

• Respecting and retaining our sense of community (safe, small town feel) and agricultural roots
• Communications improvement from the Township to residents
• Commercial opportunities along the lakeshore and throughout the Township
• Affordable and attainable housing options
• and many more great discussion topics.

All of the information gathered from Deloitte will be reviewed and included in a "What we heard report" that will be available in the coming months.

There is still time to complete the Community Survey that closes on September 30th.

Our last in-person community workshops are coming up this month and we are hoping to fill them up!

September 19th 6:30-8PM, Point Clark Community Centre

Register here: https://www.huronkinloss.com/strategic-plan-september-19-workshop/

September 20th 6:30-8PM, Lucknow Community Centre

Register here: https://www.huronkinloss.com/strategic-plan-september-20-workshop/

All Huron-Kinloss residents are welcome to attend the community workshops! The workshops are led by the Deloitte Team, they will provide a brief summary of what a strategic plan is and why it's important and then ask the group a handful of questions. The questions include what your priorities are for Huron-Kinloss over the next 10 years, what opportunities we have and what barriers we have to overcome.

If you have any questions about the workshops please contact Michelle at mgoetz@huronkinloss.com or 519-395-3735.

The 2023-2033 Strategic Plan: Blueprint for our Future Community survey is now available! The survey can be found in the survey tool on this project page, at the Municipal Office in Ripley or you can request a copy by mail. Please contact Michelle at 519-395-3735 to request a copy.

The survey has 7 open ended questions and 3 demographic questions and can take 10-45 minutes to complete (based on the level of detail you provide). You can review the questions below or you can print off a copy of the questions from the documents section of this project page.

The deadline to complete the survey is September 30th at 11:59PM.

Survey Questions:

1. What do you love about Huron-Kinloss?
2. What would make your quality of life better in Huron-Kinloss? What opportunities exist to improve your quality of life?
3. What can be done to achieve these opportunities?
4. What might stand in the way of Huron-Kinloss achieving these opportunities?
5. Looking out to 2033, what three words would you want used to describe Huron-Kinloss?
6. If you were writing the strategy and action plan, what would your number 1 priority be?
7. Is there anything else we should consider when creating the 2023-2033 Huron-Kinloss Strategic Plan: Blueprint for our Future?
8. Tell us a bit more about you
   1. My primary residence is in Huron-Kinloss
   2. My secondary residence is in Huron-Kinloss
   3. I don't live in Huron-Kinloss
   4. Other. Please Specify:
9. What is your age?
   1. Under 18
   2. 19-29
   3. 30-39
   4. 40-49
   5. 50-59
   6. 60-69
   7. 70+
10. What community do you most identify with?
    1. Lakeshore area (north of concession 10)
    2. Lakeshore area (between concession 4 and 10)
    3. Point Clark
    4. Lucknow
    5. Ripley
    6. Rural Area

Thank you to all the dedicated community members that took time out of their day to attend the first community workshop for our Strategic Plan!

Deloitte provided a great presentation that included an overview of the value of a strategic plan and followed that with a question and answer period that sparked a lively discussion.

A few of the key priorities identified by the group include:

• Affordable and diverse housing options
• Respecting and retaining our sense of community (safe, small town feel) and agricultural roots
• Access to transportation
• Improved services and amenities for our community: healthcare, day care, commercial areas, etc.

Are these priorities important to you? If you were writing the strategic plan, what would be your number one priority?

Let us know by:

• Completing our survey on Have Your Say HK
• Attending a future community workshop
  • September 19th Point Clark Community Centre 6:30-8PM: https://www.huronkinloss.com/strategic-plan-september-19-workshop/
  • September 20th Lucknow Community Centre 6:30-8PM: https://www.huronkinloss.com/strategic-plan-september-20-workshop/
• Adding your ideas to the "Ideas Tool" on Have Your Say HK

Community Workshop Information

August 15th 6:30-8PM at the Ripley-Huron Community Centre, 17 Queen St. Kincardine

The community workshops will start at 6:30pm with a brief presentation, followed by Q&A until 8pm.

Everyone is welcome to attend the workshops (RSVP is not required but welcome).

RSVP: https://www.huronkinloss.com/strategic-plan-august-15-workshop/

Future workshops

September 19th 6:30-8PM Point Clark Community Centre

September 20th 6:30-8PM Lucknow Community Centre

Questions

If you have any questions about the Strategic Plan project please contact Michelle at mgoetz@huronkinloss.com or 519-395-3735.