Puslinch is brainstorming as it looks ahead not only for the coming year, but the next four years of council.
On Dec. 22, councillors held a special council meeting to do just that.
At the onset of the meeting, Mayor Dennis Lever explained “the idea is that four years ago we got together as a group and decided to sit down as a group and look at goals and what we would like to see happen in the next four years.”
Lever said, “Everyone had things they discussed during their campaigns and issues residents had voiced. It was important to get it all out there.”
He also stressed there was no discussion during the brainstorming as to how those long and short-term goals would be achieved.
An example of one of the goals at that time was the creation of a single financial system for the township.
Lever said, “At the time we had a lot of different systems and different groups were doing different things. It was important to bring it altogether for a more comprehensive view.
“Obviously we can’t do everything in one year,” the mayor added.
Goals which were considered important at the beginning of the previous term, may have been achieved or surpassed by other priorities, he added.
Councillor Matthew Bulmer said one of the short term goals he had stemmed from past years was that there were difficulties in the budgeting process because the municipality never knew in advance what the aggregate levy would be.
He advocated the idea of looking at the average levy amount in the past and using any surplus to create a reserve to stabilize the budget.
He also noted that Puslinch does not get levies for materials drawn from North Dumfries but processed in Puslinch.
“We only get levies from the pits active here and only for the material that qualifies for a levy.”
Bulmer agreed the effect may only be modest, but it would create a stable line in the municipal budget “sort of like a hedge fund.”
Bulmer also wanted to open discussions regarding the Grand River Conservation Authority property at Puslinch Lake.
“Is there some way to create a passive access similar to the back entrance at the Mountsberg Conservation Area – with a small parking lot?” he asked.
One approach, Bulmer said would “simply be a footpath access with a small parking lot.”
He saw the move as a means of tying together public funding with a public benefit.
Under economic development, Bulmer would like to see some destination marketing of the community in conjunction with the recreation master plan.
“We are in the middle of everywhere … but not everyone realizes that.”
Councillor Ken Roth said there needs to be more concentration to expand commercial and industrial areas for growth “hopefully proper growth.”
Without re-examining the situation, Roth considered it unlikely Puslinch would be able to redesignate additional lands in the township because there is an overall surplus of such lands within Wellington County.
“If possible I think we should try to choose the right businesses for our tax base.
“Everyone wants to put in a trucking yard because of the proximity to the 401 – but how many trucking yards can we have.”
Councillor Wayne Stokley noted residents have asked him about gateway signage to the community.
He pointed to similar signage in other local municipalities to let motorists know when they are arriving in a specific community.
“We need to develop something so that when people are driving they know they are in Puslinch.”
Stokley said that in itself might lend to bringing the community and businesses closer together.
“This is not Guelph. This is a township where you can live and grow.”
He also advocated the paving of road shoulders.
While expensive in the short term, Stokley saw the move as contributing to safety and extending the lifetime of the road surface.
He suggested trying it on some road sections as an experiment to determine how much it would cost and whether the roadway could be linked in with active transportation plans.
Stokley noted that in the Wellington County active transportation plan there was the potential of getting grants from the county with respect to trails.
He also wanted to get back into the community forum – but in a different format where councillors would travel to various locations within the township such as Arkell or Puslinch Lake.
Stokley also wanted to see staff appreciation functions to become more family-oriented.
“The families of staff give a lot to the township and are not really recognized.”
Stokley noted that residents have noted a quick turnover of staff within the township in recent years.
He advocated a photo gallery of staff so people could see a photo of a staff member and his/her title. “It is important for staff to be recognized and for the community to know who the staff are.”
Stokley wanted to see more information coming from Wellington County council perhaps in a monthly mayor’s report or a county councillor’s report.
A report did not need to be in-depth, but something to give councillors a better understanding of happenings at county council which might affect the local municipality.
Stokley also wanted the township take a more active role working towards a local chamber of commerce.
Councillor Susan Fielding also favoured the idea of a county council report as part of the local agenda package.
She also hoped the new township website could be used as part of the township marketing strategy.
Fielding also spoke of work to bump up the schedule of the Highway 6 bypass for Morriston.
She hoped to assign funds within the budget to take part in the coalition and potential expenses in the costs to participate in such meetings.
Fielding said council “was a little bit blindsided in the past” when the coalition had asked for a donation.
“It is vitally important we remain part of the process therefore it would be prudent to put some money aside in the budget for that.”
Depending on the results of the fire master plan, Fielding said the township could be looking at construction of a satellite fire station in the future.
Fielding said expanded commercial and industrial lands for Puslinch could be a challenge and hoped for discussions with both the county and the province to have the Puslinch situation viewed differently – “to see us more as individual communities.”
Fielding said that while the township is undergoing a recreation master plan, not much is being done on the cultural side.
She said Puslinch has quite a few well-known artists and there are those in the area who would like to see more recognition of the arts community.
Lever said that throughout the session, there were a number of consistent messages.
He too would like to see additional uses/functions for the new website to promote the community plus assist and inform its residents.
“I’d like to see us in a situation where we could stream our meetings and provide them online so that if people cannot make it to a meeting, it could be seen online.”
Lever also wanted to see a review of existing bylaws “to see if they still fit into today’s environment.”
He noted the township’s comprehensive zoning bylaw dates back to 1987.
“The community has changed significantly since then,” Lever added.
Alluding to what he considered a successful open house on the proposed Morriston streetscape work, Lever wants to see more opportunities to engage the public.
He too wanted to see improved relations with bordering municipalities including the City of Guelph.
“We need to keep good relations with those on our borders. We’ve had problems in the past where there were some challenges between Guelph and the surrounding municipalities which led to expensive legal actions on both sides. Perhaps we can head some of that off.”
He too wanted to see the push for the Highway 6 bypass – to get it on the provincial five-year plan and to ensure that the bypass remains on that plan.
Lever noted the continued pressure it needed to keep taxes in check.
As to the availability of commercial and industrial land, he said the township not only has to look at the needs of the next 10 years – but also the next 20-plus years.
He noted Wellington County has plans to work on Wellington County Road 46/Brock Road “… and there are going to be changes in the Aberfoyle area.
“When that comes, I’d like to see we look at improvements similar to proposed improvements in Morriston.”
