Community leadership in the best place on earth
Community Priorities
- Affordability - Household budgets are being squeezed on all sides by rising costs of housing, groceries, transportation, energy and taxes. We can work together as a community to develop a local economy that raises household incomes and drives down the cost of living.
- Children’s Safety - Ensuring children grow up in safe, healthy neighbourhoods requires investment in active transportation like sidewalks and trail that connect our homes with schools, parks, playgrounds and downtown.
- Aging in Place - Having a place to call home for the rest of your life is key to living in the best place on earth. Let's work together to ensure everyone, from toddlers to elderly, are able to age in place, through community services, home ownership, employment and building inclusive neighbourhoods.
- Traffic and Transit - Getting to and from the city and around town are key to affordable quality of life. Let's improve commuter transit services, reduce traffic congestion on Daniel St. shift commercial growth to Madawaska Blvd.
- Sustainable Growth - As neighbours, we pool our resources through taxes to pay for services we all need. Let's focus our money on investing in our existing infrastructure, not attracting new people and sprawling across a dangerous highway overpass.
Community Assets
- Community Spirit - We have a long tradition of community leaders rallying the community to build a brighter future.
- Heritage Downtown - Our downtown is the heart of our history, community, economy and future.
- Transport Infrastructure - We are connected to the world by rail, air, water, and two highways.
- Entrepreneurs and Investors - We have talented entrepreneurs with diverse knowledge and backgrounds, along with investors who see opportunity to create wealth.
- Fed/Prov Funding - We can tap into a wide range of federal and provincial grants by developing innovative projects that solve todays problems.
Immediate Focus
- Sidewalks on Baskin - Work with township, county, developers and schools to immediately improve children's safety on Baskin Dr. and concentrate capital spending on improvement of existing infrastructure for current residents.
- Groceries on Madawaska - Work with existing grocers, industry leaders and local entrepreneurs to establish a grocery store that anchors the redevelopment of Madawaska Blvd as our primary commercial artery into our heritage downtown.
- Commuter Bus - Facilitate a business planning workshop with transportation businesses, residents, and property owners to re-establish a vibrant commuter bus to and from the city that serves the local market with quality service.
- Youth Hub - Engage community partners including the County of Renfrew, Phoenix Centre for children and families, Arnprior Optimist Club and CHEO in establishing a Youth Hub to improve children's mental health through belonging, cultural resources and intergenerational connections.
- Seniors Advocate - Appoint a seniors advocate at town hall to assist seniors in troubleshooting, accessing available funding programs and connecting with community resources.
- Entrepreneurship - Attract investment by working with local business, industry, school boards, investors, property owners and government agencies to foster entrepreneurship, innovation and wealth creation.
- Existing Infrastructure - We need to focus our tax dollars on maintaining and improving existing infrastructure that supports the quality of life of current residents.
Short Term Action Plan
- Expand grocery options - Top Public Demand
- Engage existing grocery stores in dialogue on expansion
- Develop marketing material that highlights market opportunity, site selection information, trade area and market demographic data, and strategic assets
- Review land use planning policy to remove barriers to investment
- Conduct targeted outreach to all grocery supply chains in Canada
- Facilitate entrepreneurship workshop with local businesses, investors and property owners interested in exploring new business opportunity
- Sidewalks on Baskin - Urgent Children’s Safety Priority
- Engage stakeholders including township, county, residents and developers to establish long-term vision for Baskin/Division/Pine Grove area.
- Engineering, design and construction to immediately improve children's safety
- Youth Hub - Mental Health through Belonging
- Support the Optimist Club and Phoenix Centre in establishing a Youth Hub in Arnprior focused on youth mental health by leveraging County and Provincial funding
- Build intergenerational partnership with Seniors Active Living and other community organizations to foster Senior-Youth symbiotic relationships
- Improve local support for aging in place through youth engagement
- Aging in Place - Ensuring our seniors have a voice and are heard
- Seniors Advocate - establishing a point of contact at town hall to assist seniors in troubleshooting, accessing available funding programs and connecting with community resources. (Assign to existing town staff)
- Senior-Youth Connection - integrating a senior support spoke into the design of a local youth hub to help students get their volunteer hours by assisting seniors in need. (Funded by Province/County)
- Entrepreneurship - The foundation of a locally owned economy
- Establish a network of local businesses focused on regional collaboration
- Host and facilitate events including entrepreneurship workshops, socials and meet ups
- Identify investment opportunities and strengthen local industry supply chains
- Lead targeted outreach to industry leaders, government agencies and investors to facilitate local business development
- Provide business community with clear communication channel to Council
- Establish municipal service standard for small businesses
- Conduct weekly business visitations to strengthen communication and understanding of economic development opportunities
Long Term Strategies
- Community Leadership - Champion volunteerism and community initiatives that improve the quality of life of residents and future generations
- Public Service Excellence - Foster a spirit of excellence through deep community engagement, results based budgeting, learning organizational culture, and collaborative innovation.
- Community Engagement - Deeply engaging residents, businesses, community organizations and other levels of government in decision making
- Entrepreneurship - Attract public and private investment into the community that aligns with resident and local business interests, including groceries, retail, advanced manufacturing, and wholesale.
- Regional Collaboration - Partner with neighbouring municipalities, the county, province and federal government to strengthen services and establish long-term plans for infrastructure, institutional investment and community prosperity.
Role of Mayor
- Community Champion - Listen to the people, rally resources, advocate for Arnprior, attract public and private investment and celebrate community success.
- Head of Council - Chair productive meetings, engage community in decision making, provide clear direction to management, and empower town staff to achieve excellence.
- Chief Executive Officer - Oversee the execution of decisions, demonstrate and inspire excellence, represent the Town, and be accountable to tax payers