Yorkton Council has been going through an interesting process at its last three regular meetings.
At each meeting Directors of the different City departments have presented Business Plans which show how they will dovetail the operations of their departments with the goals and objectives Council has established following its public strategy planning session held in 2010.
The three-day public consultation ended up giving Council a series of very broad goals for the City, the kind of goals reasonably Yorkton has long had, as have most any community.
For example one of the goals is to promote and build a healthy community encouraging healthy lifestyles, personal wellness and quality healthcare..
Seriously it is doubtful any community would hope to build an unhealthy community.
Other goals include, a City that is open for business, providing an economic environment that embraces innovation and growth and foster a safe community that embraces cultural and social diversity by providing social, recreational and educational opportunities for all community members.
Again they are the sort of broad goals all communities aspire too.
So as the department heads went through their presentations, nine over three meetings, it became rather clear most of what they have long been doing could be neatly slotted into hitting one of the goals set out by Council and the public at the planning session. It is not hard to hard to hit a target that is essentially the size of a feel-good barn.
So when looking at a goal such a building a healthy community you end up with an action that is equally broad in its approach such as, "coordinate with other City departments and stakeholders in improving safety standards of the community to promote it as one of the safest places in Canada."
While the process has been a communicative one, the public sessions to Council and Council to City Administration, there is one element still to be defined, and that is the details.
In that regard a back page of the Capital Budget presented to Council Monday, offers greater insights into what lies ahead developmentally for the city than do the Business Plans.
The page of the budget in question details the capital budget priorities for the years 2013 through 2016, as determined by the combined departments of the City.
It is in those numbers we start to see detailed expenditures, including $630,000 for the airport, a definite economic asset, $220,000 to air condition the flexihall, a major recreational asset in the city, and numerous other projects proposed for the next four years.
It is only when such details of city growth to meet the broad goals of the public strategy sessions are detailed that the process comes to fruition in a positive way for Yorkton.
