East Zorra-Tavistock halfway through strategic-planning process

East Zorra-Tavistock has reached the halfway mark as it moves closer to completing its first-ever strategic plan.

The project has three phases remaining.

Town Hall Consulting, the vendor overseeing the process, is currently working on refining the results from public open houses, the now completed survey and information provided by staff and council to present a draft strategic plan at one of the meetings in May or the first meeting in June.

“Council and senior staff have held two strategy sessions with our consultant which resulted in the formation of the vision, mission and values, strategic priorities and objectives. As well, two public open houses were held in March for the public to attend ‘Monopoly Nights’ where they were given $5 million in EZT Bucks and were invited to spend them on what objectives and priorities that were most important to them,” said Mayor Phil Schaefer.

“The public was also able to offer their own opinions and suggestions at these two events.”

In the draft vision statement, EZT is descried as “a forward-thinking and connected community rooted in a rich history, building our future together.” The proposed mission statement is “to serve, support and nurture a vibrant community” while the values are listed as integrity, sustainability, accountability, respect, teamwork and inclusivity.

EZT CAO Karen DePrest said the plan, when completed, will provide a blueprint for the township going forward.

“This being a strategic plan for the future, it is forward-looking in nature. Looking back at what we felt we did well, or what we needed to improve upon, is looking backwards. The strategic priorities will form a blueprint for our actions going forward.”

Those six priorities have been identified as good governance, financial stability, service delivery, infrastructure, community vitality and environmental awareness. There are a number of objectives listed under the priorities including the development of communication strategies, enhancing diversity in recreation-and-leisure activities, supporting access to daycare, and electrification and green initiatives.

Schaefer added the pieces of the strategic plan will serve as a guiding force for all facets of what EZT does.

“I think the mission, vision and values statements clearly outline what we want to do, how we will do it and what values we will employ to do it. It reinforces the fact that we will look to the future, but not without remembering the rich history of our township dating back to the mid-1800s. We want to encourage our various communities to feel connected in our common goals, and the municipality pledges to live up to the noble values as it delivers the core services that our residents deserve, no matter where they reside in our township.”

More details are available at eztalks.ca/strategic-plan.

Lee Griffi, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Wilmot-Tavistock Gazette