Alix: Public input on community’s future wanted

Alix village council wants public input on the course the municipality will steer into the future. The decision about public input was made at the Aug. 7 regular meeting of council.

Village Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Michelle White presented councillors with ideas for their upcoming strategic planning session; municipal councils usually employ such plans to lay out their next few years by identifying specific goals or outcomes within the community.

“Following the 2022 municipal election an in-depth review and rewrite of the Village of Alix strategic plan was done using internal resources,” stated White’s memo to council. “This plan set a direction for council policy and budget decision-making.

“The plan has been reviewed annually in late summer/early fall on a day chosen by council.

“All members of council indicated at the 2023 strategic planning session that they felt citizen engagement was a priority item. Over the past year staff have done significant work toward this goal, including lake information night and the joint survey done with the Alix Chamber of Commerce.”

White was curious how councillors wanted to handle strategic planning this year: part of a regular council meeting, a special meeting or incorporate public consultation into the 2024 plan.

“If council chooses to do public consultation, it could be by paper and digital survey or in person,” noted the CAO’s report, who added a typical in-house session for council would likely cost taxpayers about $1,000, adding paper/digital public engagement would likely add about $500 to the cost while in-person public engagement could add about $1,000.

The CAO noted there is no legal obligation to develop strategic plans, who also observed special meetings held for strategic plan talks should be considered open to the public like regular meetings are. “Since strategic plans are high level documents it is unlikely that any FOIP related matters will be discussed, meaning the meeting needs to be open to the public,” stated White.

During discussion councillors talked about when the best time would be to collect public input: before or after council’s strategic plan meetings. They noted scheduling public meetings during summer vacation probably wouldn’t yield the best results, while they also have a major municipal convention in September.

White suggested holding one council strategic plan meeting in August, then release the results of that meeting to the public and invite their opinions. That feedback can be collected and provided for council as reference when they finalize the plan.

It was noted the existing strategic plan will be used as a starting point for 2024’s.

Councillors also discussed the best way to collect input, with White pointing out Alix residents responded well to the recent shopping habits survey.

Coun. Tim Besuijen suggested the survey could also include some updates for the public on various village projects.

Councillors eventually decided they would request public input on the existing strategic plan first, then hold their council meeting to discuss the results. They noted they will hold that meeting in council chambers the afternoon of Sept. 4.

Stu Salkeld
Local Journalism Initiative reporter
ECA Review

About the author

Stu Salkeld

Stu Salkeld, who has upwards of 28 years of experience in the Alberta community newspaper industry, is now covering councils and other news in the Stettler region and has experience working in the area as well.

He has joined the ECA Review as a Local Journalism Initiative Journalist.

Stu earned his two-year diploma in print journalism from SAIT in Calgary from 1993 to ’95 and was raised in Oyen, Alta., one of the communities within the ECA Review’s coverage area.