Hampered during its last budget process by a lack of long-term planning, Mountain View County council has set 15 strategic goals in six key areas.The goals were formulated during council's recent strategic planning workshop in Canmore and appear under the headings of community/quality of life, infrastructure, economy/financial health, governance and agriculture.“These came right off the charts developed by council at the workshop,” CAO Tony Martens said at the May 16 regular council meeting.As a next step, staff was still determining “the level of service we provide to the general public,” Martens said.The list of four goals for community/quality of life includes maintaining safe communities, supporting communities in providing recreational opportunities, supporting “initiatives to create the opportunity for people to remain in their communities as they age,” and encouraging “a vibrant, rural culture.”The three infrastructure goals are to provide “an effective road network,” infrastructure “that serves the public's needs responsibly and effectively,” and maintain the infrastructure “efficiently, effectively and in an environmentally responsible way.”The three goals for the municipality's economy/financial health are to “diversify to increase MVC's taxable asset base and mitigate revenue risk,” ensure there is adequate revenue to meet service needs, and to see that “programs and services are delivered efficiently, economically, equitably and remain relevant.”The three goals for governance are to have “a culture of open, responsive and effective governance,” to “promote respectful, positive and productive relationships with other municipalities and orders of government,” and to “communicate openly and effectively with the public.”Agriculture is placed first on the list and its single goal is to “provide an environment in which traditional and new forms of agriculture, along with innovative, value-added agricultural industry, can thrive.”And under the heading of environment the goal is to “exert the maximum influence to protect and preserve the region's unique and precious natural environment.”
