Rocky View County (RVC) is one step closer to receiving a new Recreation and Culture Master Plan, following a presentation to the RVC Policy and Priorities Committee on Dec. 2.
Representatives from Lees and Associates and Expedition Management Consulting detailed their findings in a short presentation, and gave the committee the opportunity to follow up with questions and comments. Feedback on the presentation will be used to develop a report, which administration will bring to RVC council in January 2015.
“This process has been a rigorous one,” said Eric Lees, consultant with Lees and Associates.
“The primary purpose of the plan is to identify the needs of the community and a strategic direction to meet those needs, and how to do so in a financially sustainable manner.”
According to Lees, the development of the plan involved an extensive amount of community engagement. Workshops, stakeholder interviews, questionnaires, and facility tours all provided input into the work brought forward in their draft, Lees said.
“You don’t need me to stand here and tell you that you’re facing unprecedented population growth,” said Lees.
“County residents are expecting more services and a higher quality of services, and the current organizational structure is just not sustainable. As time goes on, it will become even less sustainable, especially if we continue to build facilities that are expensive to maintain.”
A main recommendation within the draft plan involves re-examining the organizational structure of 10 recreation boards, as well as one regional board. According to Expedition Management Consulting’s Justin Rousseau, the system will be “very difficult” to manage as the county expands.
“This fragments the county in terms of distributing funds geographically, and the recreation funds should go through the normal budgeting process instead of through the regional board,” Rousseau said.
“This plan provides a roadmap to help build financial sustainability. If you use it as a tool to do that and put in the elbow grease, it will happen.”
The draft reinforced the importance of community partnerships and regional co-operation, but Councillor Liz Breakey said she wasn’t sure how “gutting” the district level boards would help further this goal.
“Where is the ability to hear from the communities out there, to know what they need?” she asked.
“I’m really, deeply concerned about the grassroots involvement. Our volunteers are critical to representing the needs of the community.”
According to Lees, the grassroots community is central to the success of the delivery model as it stands now, but the county needs to move toward a more streamlined process that is “equitable, defensible and based on a robust series of criteria that are not present at this time.”
“Those people really care about what goes on in their community, and they make recommendations to council,” said Deputy Reeve Lois Habberfield.
“Our tagline is ‘cultivating communities,’ and this is not cultivating communities. We need to have strong, individual communities in Rocky View (County), and I have to see a lot more information on how this is going to work.”
Lees said that their main concern was with capital decision making, and that the draft plan still shows community input feeding back to council as the “ultimate decision makers,” just through a more streamlined process involving three smaller committees rather than 10 separate boards.
“I found your approach very principled and logical,” said Reeve Margaret Bahcheli.
“If we don’t get control of our capital expenditures, it doesn’t matter if we are responsive to our 4H groups or Girl Guides. The larger picture is getting missed for the need to feel responsive and participatory with our smaller volunteer groups.”
She added the plan still indicates channels for participation and input from community members who have ideas, but this plan will help deal with large capital projects and the operating costs associated with those.
“You had me at sustainability, and I thank you for it,” Bahcheli said. “I can see the good work that’s in here, and I appreciate the message.”
Feedback from the committee’s discussion will be used to create a report to be presented to RVC council early in 2015.
