Township reaches goals in corporate plan as 4-year strategy wraps up

May 24, 2023 · 0 Comments

By Mark Pavilons
Editor

The pandemic didn’t slow King Township down in making “significant progress” in year four of its Corporate Strategic Plan.
Staff noted the plan, which spanned 2019-2022, set out priorities, objectives, key actions and performance measures to guide the Township’s decisions for the previous term of council.
The majority of its target goals were achieved.
The CSP is meant to provide a common focus for the Township, which enables staff to address the changing needs of the community, while consistently fostering a high quality of life for citizens. The 2019-2022 CSP outlined a detailed course of action for the 2019-2022 term of council, through four priority areas. They included a green and sustainable future; investing in infrastructure; cultivating safe, healthy and resilient communities, and service delivery excellence.
In those four areas, there was a tremendous amount of success. In infrastructure, the Township achieved 100% of its goals and 7.3/10 green actions were achieved. All actionss were completed or progressing in healthy communities and most are trending in the right direction. Service delivery was top-notch, too.
Success was measured through Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
The Township was not able to complete a draft of the community engagement plan before the end of this term of our corporate strategic plan. For this final reporting year, the community engagement plan is 50% drafted and staff are optimistic about completion of the draft and adoption of the plan in 2023.
In all, 78% of community benefits are trending in the right direction. These positive steps included 29% increase in waste diverted from landfills from 2021.
Some of the milestones included:
Cleanout of 1 Stormwater pond, leading to an increase in stormwater ponds in King in good condition.
A 7% increase in invasive species removal from 2021.
A 4% decrease in average water consumption per capita from 2021.
As a result of the Road Improvement Program, there was a 3.6% increase in roads/bridges in top condition.
A 59% increase in Township properties with access to broadband/fibre from 2021.
Four facilities with new accessibility renovations, as well as (2) more Facilities (Parks Depot & Tasca Park) were equipped with EV charging stations.
A 2.8% increase of core area accessible streetscaping since 2021.
A 7% increase in Township parks and facilities that are partially or fully accessible.
Reduced speed limits on 17th Sideroad between Dufferin and Jane to 50 km/h.
A 40% increase in capital projects that were associated with good asset management practices.
Eleven kilometres of new watermains installed, and 52 kilometres of watermain swabbing performed, This represents a 200% increase from 2020, which have improved operational performance of water/wastewater systems.
Three new permanent speed hump installations.
The implementation of (7) action items from the Economic Development Plan, increasing the number of implemented initiatives from approved master plans/long term growth frameworks in 2022.
80% of Township led projects budgeted in 2022 support strong asset management practices and/or replacement/renewal of assets to meet service level standards.
93% of all CRM cases closed within (2) business days.
One new corporate accreditations and (7) re-accreditations earned in 2022, increasing the % of departments with accreditations since 2021.
A 1% increase in online services available to the public, resulting in 98% of services being accessible online or through a mobile device.
A 2% increase in staff retention levels.
87% of corporate and administrative policies and procedures are up to date.
A 22% increase in external projects/initiatives influenced by King as an active stakeholder and thousands of dollars realized in cost savings resulting from the partnerships.
96% of employees reported motivation to succeed in their jobs in the Employee Pulse Survey conducted in 2022.
Staff pointed out that these achievements demonstrate strong, organized and collaborative efforts across the organization and in support of council’s priorities over this term of council. various degrees of progress were made on 33 action items. Half-way through the implementation of the Strategy, the pandemic created a significant disruption where Staff needed to re-focus service levels. Staff provided timely help, guidance and information as necessary to the local business community, namely to some of the hardest hit businesses in the retail, restaurant and tourism sectors.
The support provided included timely information on availability of essential services, daily updates to the business community through Economicking.ca, including a portal for all resources mandates and orders at local, regional, provincial and federal levels, and a heightened focus on the shop local initiative shopKING. As a COVID response measure, staff also developed and administered an extended outdoor patio program for restaurant operators.
Notwithstanding the refocused priorities, progress was made on the Strategy’s action items including: refreshing and implementing a new Community Improvement Plan; Community Tourism Plan; and continuing the Main Street Revitalization Strategy activation. Several grant programs were leveraged to continue, and enhance, services through Rural Economic Development (RED), Central Counties Tourism Fed. Dev. Tourism Relief Fund (TRF) and York Region’s Covid recovery support fund.
Of the 33 action items, it is being proposed that going forward into the development of a new plan:
Eleven will continue to advance and be further operationalized; four will be continued with some degree of reassessment needed; nine will be reassessed more comprehensively; and for various reasons nine will not carry forward or will stop being the focus of the economic development’s work plan and function.
The new five-year plan must:

Align with the updated Official Plan priorities.
Align with the Corporate Strategic Plan Objectives.
Address the duality of King’s multitude of small businesses and the few medium businesses
which employ more people and drive the non-residential tax base.
Address King’s unique community of communities – both villages and the rural economy.
Incorporate King’s Community Improvement Plan, Community Tourism Plan and Main Street
Schomberg’s Revitalization Strategy.
Incorporate outcomes from upcoming studies for Employment Lands Needs Study, Doctors Lane Block Plan and Hwy 11 Corridor and Nobleton Lions Park Redevelopment Strategy, Old King Road Block Plan, Nobleton (distinct and unique geographies that are appropriate for commercial and mixed-use redevelopment and intensification).
Address the low inventory of available land for medium/large business development.
Differentiate King from other surrounding municipalities in terms of investment attraction.