Tudor and Cashel have first Strategic Plan committee meeting

By Mike Riley

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Tudor and Cashel Township had their first Strategic Planning Advisory Committee meeting to put together the Strategic Plan for the township on Jan. 15. During their meeting on Jan. 9, Tudor and Cashel Township council approved the proposal from Carey McMaster founder and business development and growth specialist with TRAICON to help them with their Strategic Plan. Councillor Jerry Chadwick, chair of the Strategic Planning Advisory Committee, comments on this meeting.
McMaster is a business development and growth specialist and that she works with entrepreneurs, not for profits and municipalities in many capacities. She has been working in this capacity since she founded TRAICON 20 years ago. For more information on McMaster, her credentials and TRAICON, go to www.traicon.ca.
At their Dec. 5 Committee of the Whole meeting, McMaster presented a delegation to council on the process of developing a Strategic Plan for Tudor and Cashel. She was asked to draft a proposal to council to consider and during the December council meeting, council voted to establish an ad hoc committee to assist in the development of this Strategic Plan. The township requested volunteers for this committee and subsequently got three candidates; Keitha McNeil, Flavian Pinto and Pat Stalleart, who were approved by council at their Jan. 9 meeting. The committee is chaired by Councillor Jerry Chadwick.
A municipal strategic plan allows a township council to define their vision for the future and identify their goals and objectives.
The process includes establishing the sequence in which these goals should be realized so that the municipality can reach its stated vision. Tudor and Cashel last did a five-year Strategic Plan “living document” back in 2019, where they set out their goals, their accomplishments from 2010 to 2018 and next steps. It is due to be redone for 2024.
This document can be found on the Tudor and Cashel Township website at www.tudorandcashel.com.
McMaster is a business development and growth specialist and that she works with entrepreneurs, not for profits and municipalities in many capacities. She has been working in this capacity since she founded TRAICON 20 years ago. For more information on McMaster, her credentials and TRAICON, go to www.traicon.ca.
At the kick-off meeting for the Strategic Plan on Jan. 15, Chadwick, Nancy Carrol, clerk and treasurer, Pinto, Stalleart and McMaster were present, with McNeil absent. After introductions and meeting ground rules, they conducted an overview of the Strategic Planning process, and reviewed the work plan and timeline. They then reviewed roles and responsibilities, phase one, in which McMaster will facilitate the strategic planning process, collect and aggregate data from the SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) and PESTLE (Political, Economic, Sociological, Technological, Legal and Environmental) analyses and report findings to committee for discussion, develop a citizen survey for committee review and discussion, go over the ad hoc Strategic Planning Committee key roles and responsibilities, and then conduct a thorough examination of documents and data provided.
The committee then went over the communication plan, which stated that all communications will take place through email and all committee members will be copied on all correspondence.
Document review identification was undertaken next by the committee, any documents that consolidate where the township is now and where it's going. These include the census profile 2021, building permits issued from 2016-2023, year-end financial statements, 2020 asset management plan, detailed list of capital projects, and property assessments.
Next, they decided on the stakeholders for the SWOT analysis to provide a framework for matching the township's goals, programs and capacities to the environment in which they operate. These stakeholders were; municipal staff, council, standing committees, community and communication committee, public works committee, finance planning advisory committee, library board, and cemetery board.
They also discussed the procedure for completing the SWOT analysis and its distribution to stakeholders, completion and results. The SWOT analysis was to be distributed by Jan. 19, with replies back from stakeholders to McMaster by Jan. 26, with the SWOT analysis date aggregation/report by McMaster due on Feb. 1.
The next steps decided upon were a Citizen Survey questions draft by McMaster by Jan. 23, the draft review by the committee by Feb. 1 and the document review by the committee also on Feb. 1.
The next Strategic Plan Advisory Committee meeting will be on Feb. 1 at a time still to be decided on ZOOM. At this time, they'll talk about the documents reviewed, discuss the SWOT analysis report, and discuss the Citizen's Survey questions and distribution.
McMaster told Bancroft This Week that the meeting went well on Jan. 15 and that the next one is on Feb. 1.
“I will have something to report at that time,” she says.
Chadwick told Bancroft This Week that McMaster, as facilitator of the process, brings an impressive level of experience and knowledge to the table, and that while the process of setting a Strategic Plan for 2024 to 2027 is complex and daunting, she walked the committee through the process and the steps they'll follow to accomplish their goal before summer.
“I viewed the first meeting as successful. We left with a clearer understanding of our tasks and responsibilities. We all left with homework. One of the vital steps is assessing where we are now and where we want to be. To that end, the committee members and other committees have been asked to complete a SWOT analysis and submit it by [Jan. 26],” he says. “Our next committee meeting will be on Feb. 1.”