City Launches myPG Campaign to Create Long Term Plan for City
By 250 News
Monday, October 26, 2009 05:00 PM
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Prince George, B.C.- The City of Prince George has launched what may be its most ambitious public consultation project in its history. Called “myPG”, the project is aimed at finding out from a grassroots level, just what the long term vision for the City should be. Rather than holding a series of public forums, “myPG” will offer a website (www.myPG.ca ) where people can either fill out an online form, or download it , fill it out and return it to City Hall. The forms are also available at City Hall. Members of the “myPG” team will also go o places where people gather in an effort to collect as much information and ideas as possible.
This grassroots effort is what is called an “Integrated Community Sustainability Plan” a plan that is necessary if the City hopes to continue receiving money from the gas taxes collected. This year, the amount of money from the gas tax fund is $2.9 million dollars, and Mayor Dan Rogers says having such a plan in place is quickly becoming a prerequisite for qualifying for funding from a variety of sources. “Increasingly we are being asked to develop a long term plan, for 25 – 50 years down the road and what needs to be done to get us there.”
As an example of how the plan works, team leader Mark Fercho says one community decided it wanted to reduce it’s dependency on fossil fuels, so that started the community on the road to installation of infrastructure for geo thermal heating.
When complete, the Prince George plan will drive the decisions City Council will make in the future, the City’s operating budget, the capital budget, help set Corporate and staff goals and be the backbone of future policies ( like the official community plan) and bylaws.
It is hoped people will take the opportunity to access the workbook designed for what “myPG” calls “kitchen table talks” that interested citizens can organize to fit their own personal schedules.
The vision could be anything says Mayor Dan Rogers, from someone who thinks the city needs more arenas to a person who wants more commercial zoning, or perhaps those who would like to see curb side recycling, whatever the idea, the City wants to hear it. “We need to keep one eye on the future, and plan for 30 to 50 years,
Several communities including Williams Lake, Calgary, Kamloops and Whistler, have either already completed their specific plans or are well on the way to doing so.
The project carries a price tag of $444 thousand dollars, of which, $300 thousand came from gas tax revenues, a further $120 thousand in the form of a grant from a specific gas tax fund, and $100 thousand that had been set aside for the Official Community Plan review which will be conducted in conjunction with the “myPG” project.
The data gathered between now and December 16th will be analyzed and brought back to the community shortly thereafter. Then in the Spring of 2010, residents will be asked to select their preferred goals, and by this time next year there will be a plan in place on how those goals can be achieved.
Mayor Rogers says Prince George is known to have a strong core of volunteers and he is banking on that volunteer spirit to get people involved and speak up on the direction the City should take.
There is nothing that prevents special interest groups from trying to hijack the process to promote their special interests or from non residents filling out the form on line to fit their vision of what P.G. should be, team leader Mark Fercho says all ideas will be accepted, and the community will make the final decision on what is followed through. Fercho promises there will be an ongoing transparent record of the efforts to achieve the stated goals.
This project will incorporate work that has already been done, and Fercho promises it will not be a study that sits on the shelf collecting dust “That is not what I’m in the game for, this is all about creating a community in which future generations want to live.”
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Posted by: acrider54 on October 26 2009 5:25 PM