The citizens of Elliot Lake can only hope the new council is discovering they can’t solve all the problems by themselves. Because these won’t go away with a turning of the calendar page.
The bottom line? Elliot Lake City Council needs to communicate and work with the citizens better in 2024.
Major issues - not of the new council’s making
The most devastating issue not of council's making, was the shut down of the arena at the beginning of September.
Speaking at the hastily called Centennial Arena Community Information Session meeting, Oct. 5, Acting Mayor Andrew Wannan remarked, “the arena was a shock.”
In an unsteady voice, Wannan told the audience, “It hurts. Good friend bought a hockey team. Started it. Is running it as a business and basically, we had to close the arena. My nieces, my nephews, my cousin’s kids – all our families’ kids – we shut the arena.”
The arena is receiving top attention. The council promptly approved staff recommendations for shoring and an evaluation by a specialty firm. It is expected to be repairable. Story: There's a lot more right about it than wrong.
And while that part is good news, it is not good news that we are making these decisions with our ‘back against the wall.’ The urgent need to bring this facility back online will most likely exclude the option of planning for a new arena, at least for many years to come - unless we want to throw our money away.
“Failing to plan is planning to fail.”
Other major issues
Planning
It is difficult to imagine a more poorly executed strategic planning process than the one council contracted for $30,000 this past year. And it is unknown whether the product - a confusing set of generalizations - is even officially adopted.
2024 is starting. An interim CAO starts tomorrow. Do staff align to this plan - or to the strategic plan still on the city’s website from three council terms ago?
Financial planning is also behind schedule. During the fall, councillors expressed a desire to have the 2024 budget finalized before the end of 2023.
The annual budget is developed by the Ad Hoc Budget Committee, a committee of all councillors. In a move like an emergency repair, staff brought the recommended 2024 user fees directly to the special council meeting of Dec. 20.
Normally, this would go through the Ad Hoc Budget committee, but the committee has not scheduled their first meeting yet.
How can staff plan?
Communication
Nowhere was two-tiered communication more evident than in the different response to the needs of hockey and skating vs. slo-pitch and t-ball.
The youth slo-pitch and t-ball club uses ball diamonds at Burley Park and Kiwanis Park for kids’ programs. Last March, without consultation, the council decided to remove the diamond at Kiwanis Park to create space for an all-wheels skate park.
The club didn’t know this was happening until they heard the decision had been made. Numerous attempts on the part of the club to present their concerns have been ignored.
At present, it is unclear what the situation is because council’s original instruction to staff is still in place.
However, there are plans for a temporary ice rink on the ball diamond this winter. Staff, apparently with council’s approval, are prepared to spend some money for a liner to protect the ball diamond surface.
The situation is as clear as mud. Or maybe very little mud if they use the liner – but still clearly unclear.
And then there’s the citizen’s infrastructure petition still waiting for a proper response. The 600-signature petition was delivered to council Sept. 25 along with additional signatures. Story: Full gallery of residents greets Elliot Lake city council.
Hiring a communications staffer
During this past year, the strategic planning consultant recommended that the council hire a staff person to handle communication for them.
That would be counterproductive. This council is already insulated from the average citizen’s input. An official ‘talking head’ would be an additional cost that would just place more insulation between us and our elected representatives.
Costly mistakes
A top priority for the council was a new performance theatre at 255 Hwy 108. In January, council approved the cost of $58,000 for the redesign and a grant application. The application was rejected, just like the year prior. A $58,000 lesson.
More concerning, is the lost opportunity cost. When the new council arrived, there were at least two proposals for commercial development on their table.
The council subsequently decided to divide the property and two proponents walked away. And council has never told the public what the “third expression of interest” was - although there certainly was a lot of wrangling to insist there were 3, not 2, proposals on the table. It’s a strange mystery.
CAO costs
On May 23, council awarded the strategic planning consultant an additional contract to recruit a new CAO. The contract was approved for $34,000 plus applicable taxes and disbursements.
Is this cost included in the CAO projected 2023 overspending of $74,787 or is it additional?
Apparently, the training that council received from the Integrity Commissioner, Dec. 12, 2022, was worth considering. The IC told council, “[staff] know that council - a majority of them - can fire them with no cause at all [however] it would be very expensive for the municipality …”
How expensive will this be for the municipality? What have we gained?
What did the new council do well?
Events. At least the ones they chose to keep.
The street dance was a big success. So was the Komatsu Elliot Lake Ice Fishing Derby 2023, to name a couple. Council has already held a closed session meeting to discuss the headliner for next year’s street dance. And planning for the 2024 Elliot Lake Trading Post Ice Fishing Derby is underway.
One event not retained was the drag race. It survived 20+ years and COVID, but not the new council.
The council justified cutting the drag race as cost cutting. Anecdotal information at the council table, reported that there was relatively little economic benefit. No one mentioned the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sports Tourism Regional Economic Impact Model study of 2016 which reported, “Overall estimated economic impact to the Algoma region over the three-day event was $244,315.”
The drag race would have benefited from an open discussion with the public. That way, whatever the outcome, the public could have been satisfied that our ec dev and recreation dollars are being spent equitably.
Summer day camp returned - as the councillors have pointed out. They don’t mention it had only been cancelled for one year. Coming out of COVID there were not enough adequately trained staff to run it safely.
The pool renovations got the green light. Staff members found ways to make this as affordable as possible. Council supported their recommendations.
Hillside Drive N. tender approved. The council followed the recommendations of staff to tender this in the fall. It received multiple bids in the range expected. Work is set to begin in the spring. The council stepped forward and committed to this major project.
Downtown Arts Centre. A mixed result. For example, the new council down-scaled this project with the expectation that some elements of the original design would be satisfied by a new performance theatre at 255 Hwy 108. Natural lighting was in the original design for the painters’ artist workspace. That was lost in the down-scaled design. Nonetheless, it will open soon. The opening is a good thing.
Purchase of church building at 40 Hillside Dr. North. Council has supported the purchase for a future museum / performance space, and a welcome centre. It's a cost-effective solution that creates an opportunity for long range planning.
2024
The bottom line? Elliot Lake City Council needs to communicate and work better with the citizens in 2024.
That’s my view. What is yours? Please comment below.