Community Development through Public Participation

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Community Development through Public Participation

• LGAA March 17, 2005
• Norm McInnis, CAO
• Town of Picture Butte
• Darlene Sinclair, EDO
• Lethbridge District
• Business Development Centre

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Community Development through Public Participation

• EDA Alberta says the following about economic
  development
• A precise definition of economic development is
  difficult to find however, humans have been
  practicing it since creation. The earliest humans
  found that gathering together into groups or
  tribes increased the likelihood of individual
  survival. Diverse skills among the members of the
  tribe made the tribe stronger and everyone was
  better off. This was the birth of the division of
  labor and the birth of community.

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• The earliest economic developers may have been
  the ones to decide that their tribe needed fire
  and set about bringing fire-manufacturing into
  the community, either through local development
  or by attracting the someone else with the
  knowledge to the community. There must have been
  members in those early communities who didnt
  fully appreciate the benefits or need for fire
  until people were already freezing to death
  Nevertheless, an important role for the economic
  developer is anticipating the needs of the
  community and protecting it from dependency on
  changing conditions.

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• Community development and business development
  may be thought of as two streams within economic
  development. Community development deals with the
  social connections that exist within a community,
  while business development tends to focus on
  traditional economic development activities like
  investment attraction, business retention and
  business counseling.

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Economic Development through Public Participation

• LDBDCA ( Lethbridge District Business
  Development Centre)
• Non-profit organization
• Community Futures Development Corporation
• We actively engage in helping our communities
  develop and implement economic development
  strategies
• We provide support and assistance through website
  development, marketing brochures and posters,
  surveys, consulting, grant applications, a
  variety of community sustainability projects,
  facilitation, short and long term community
  planning as well as working with local Community
  Economic Development committees and Chambers
• We offer a variety of business start-up
  assistance and business development services.
• We offer repayable loans to community members
• The communities we serve are
• Barons, Coaldale, Coalhurst, City and County of
  Lethbridge, Magrath, Nobleford, Picture Butte,
  Raymond and Stirling

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Economic Development through Public Participation

• Specific projects the LDBDCA has assisted the
  Town of
• Picture Butte with are
• - Shop local summer campaign (Passport to
  Success)
• - Community Fishing Derby
• - New Town image campaign
• - Grant application assistance for PCBT Golf
  Course
• - Community CD/TV commercials
• - Business Visitation Survey
• - Residential lot development
• - Vacant hospital building

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Economic Development through Public Participation

• Business Visitation Survey
• Due in a large pat to the effects of BSE, Town
  Council, working with Community Futures,
  undertook a survey of our business community to
  ascertain what we felt was relevant information
  at these trying times for our town.
• Face-to-face surveys completed where possible
• Mailed copies sent out if requested
• From the report, we were able to identify ways
  in which the business community could be
  supported
• - Financial assistance from LDBDCA where
  required
• - Business planning from LDBDCA
• - Assistance from Town Council met with local
  businesses to discuss concerns
• Overall the business community has done ok
  through the BSE. 
• BSE is not over and there may be some role for
  us to play in the future.

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Economic Development through Public Participation

• Residential lot development
• Picture Butte has determined that the best way to
  support our business community is to spur
  residential development.
• Process
• Started contacting local land owners
• Looked at possible partnerships
• Looked into types of housing needs for community
  (from surveys)
• Started a buzz in community and surrounding area
• Initiated meetings with town, land owners and
  builders
• This spring we will start the formal process of
  holding community meetings, working with
  Engineers and the Oldman River Regional Services
  Commission.
• By-laws, lots sizes, road patterns
• Look into stages of development

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Economic Development through Public Participation

• Vacant Hospital Building possible uses
• - Alberta Film Commission
• - Incubator Program
• - Offsite campus
• LDBDCA will conduct
• - Market Feasibility study
• - Engineering study

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Community Development through Public Participation

• The difference between Community Economic
  Development and conventional economic development
  is process. Community Economic Development brings
  community members together out of common concerns
  and attempts to generate and initiate
  community-led, community-driven and
  community-implemented solutions to their common
  economic problems.

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Community Development through Public Participation

• Vision is the fundamental force that drives
  everything else in our lives.
• It impassions us with a sense of the unique
  contribution that is ours to make.
• It empowers us to put first things first,
  compasses ahead of clocks, and people ahead of
  schedules and things.
• - Stephen Covey

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Community Development through Public Participation

• Strategic Planning in Local Government requires
  both the ability to Lead and the ability to
  Follow.

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Community Development through Public Participation

• Leading
• Municipalities do not have constitutional
  recognition
• We need to be aware of and aligned with
  Provincial strategies

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Community Development through Public Participation

• 1. Unleashing innovation
• creating an environment that will invigorate
  Alberta's traditional economy with new technology
  and ideas
• 2. Leading in learning
• investing in Alberta's learning system to ensure
  Albertans can accomplish their education goals
• 3. Competing in the global marketplace
• ensuring reliable export markets and keeping
  Alberta competitive and
• 4. Making Alberta the best place to live, work
  and visit
• keeping social programs responsive, modern and
  affordable.

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Community Development through Public Participation

• Following
• Council must rely on input from the community in
  order to identify which of the provincial
  strategies they will participate in order to
  achieve their community goals.

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Community Development through Public Participation

• Alberta's Rural Development Strategy
• A Place To Grow February 24, 2005
• The strategy sets out four pillars rural
  communities say are essential for sustainable
  growth
• economic growth
• community capacity, quality of life and
  infrastructure
• health care and,
• learning and skill development.

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Community Development through Public Participation

• Designing Public Engagements
• Four Consultative Designs
• Communication
• Listening
• Partnership
• Empowerment
• NACLAA Citizen Engagement Consultation

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Picture ButteFuture Summit 2003
May 22, 2003
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Picture ButteFuture Summit 2003

• Session topics were
• Development
• Health Care
• Youth
• Growth Tourism
• Discussion with Town Council

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Using Partnerships to Create Community
Sustainability

• March 2, 2004

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Using Partnerships to Create Community
Sustainability

• The stated objectives of the Mini Summit on
  Sustainability were
• Objective To provide the residents of Picture
  Butte with an overview of how municipal dollars
  are allocated.
• Objective To have the residents of the Picture
  Butte area provide input on how the community can
  move forward in a progressive, rather than
  reactive manner.
• Objective To have the residents of the Picture
  Butte area enhance existing partnerships to work
  with the Town of Picture Butte to develop new
  ways of operating local recreation and cultural
  programs and facilities.

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Community Development through Public Participation

• Formation of a Public Advisory Committee on
  Sustainability
• Empowerment Design
• In this design the government stands somewhat
  removed from the process as the discussion and
  communication occurs among citizens. The
  objective of the government in empowerment
  projects is to facilitate the process.

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How AUMA defines Sustainability

• What do we mean by Sustainability?
• Sustainability is related to the quality of life
  in a community whether the economic, social and
  environmental systems that make up the community
  are providing a healthy, productive, meaningful
  life for all community residents, present and
  future.
• Our understanding of how these three systems
  relate to one another has evolved

Economy
Environ- ment
Economy
Environ- ment
Economy
Society
Society
Society
Environment
Historically, the view of community has been
three separate unrelated parts an economic part,
a social part and an environmental part.
In the future, the view of community needs to be
seen as three concentric circles the economy
exists within society, and both the economy and
society exist within the environment.
More and more, the view of community is one that
shows the links among its three parts the
economic part, the social part and the
environmental part.
Presidents Summit on Municipal Sustainability
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C h a n g i n g
A Planning Model for Outcomes Driven Community
Services
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Community Development through Public Participation

• Don't let the situation confuse you...