Council showing commitment to community

Comment Chris Smith Innisfil Scope February 23 2010

The public consultation process continues to expand in Innisfil municipal government.

Last week, Innisfil council approved the formation of three new committees, steps that could potentially have far reaching consequences for events and community development throughout the town. Starting relatively soon, the town will have committees for Remembrance and Pitch-In days, and Lefroy Community Urban Design Guidelines advisory.

Each of the committees will have uniquely different goals, but they all highlight the town’s ongoing efforts to increase public involvement.

Perhaps the committee with the most difficult immediate task will be Pitch-In. The Pitch-In committee will consist of local residents, and should help coordinate the growing annual event more effectively. However, there will need to be a pretty quick turnaround, for the event to be on par with efforts in previous years. Pitch-In usually takes place around the Mother’s Day weekend in May, and draws thousands of town residents each year. Those residents regularly pick-up several tons of trash from roadsides, ditches and parks throughout the municipality, a job that simply cannot be done by municipal staff.

This committee is coming at the perfect time. Over the last few years, the responsibility for organization has mostly fallen to one town staff member. The effort has strained the ‘already limited resources’ in the town’s clerk’s department, and been quite stressful for the employee. There has even been talk of disbanding the event, due to a lack of public interest in its organization. Hopefully, better coordination by a group of caring individuals will ensure the turmoil surrounding the event subsides.

The Remembrance committee will also ultimately be beneficial for the municipality. Although the committee members have yet to be chosen, and it will be awhile before a terms of reference is established, coordinated efforts will pay dividends. It could lead to community-wide contests, or help ensure veterans and historians make it out to every school in town, in the weeks leading up to Remembrance Day. Perhaps the committee could even consider organizing a parade for Alcona’s downtown core, or start fundraising for memorials or epitaphs along a portion of the new centre medians on Innisfil Beach Road. This committee will have an opportunity to better honour town veterans, and make remembrance a community-wide occasion.

Lastly, council established the Lefroy urban design advisory committee last week. Although the concept of an advisory committee is hardly new — the town has them for almost every major project — it will have a significant effect on the future of the village. The guidelines will provide specific details on the design standards for streetscapes, heritage sites, landmarks, community entrances and gateway signage, and commercial, residential and cultural buildings throughout the village. The guidelines are also expected to deal with transportation, open space and natural features within the village, and set architectural standards for new subdivisions.

Each of these committees will help shape aspects of the town for years to come. And they speak to council’s willingness to have open and transparent public involvement.

In terms of accountability and communication, council members are keeping their election promises so fa