Yesterday, the city hosted the first of four drop-in sessions for Elliot Lake’s Strategic Planning. Organizers estimate that about 30 residents attended the two-hour open house at the Public Library.
The three remaining sessions are scheduled today, Wednesday from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., from 2 to 4 p.m. and from 6 to 8 p.m.
The 22 actions of the draft Strategic Plan were on display. Bill Goulding, Steve Antunes, and consulting firm reps were available for questions and conversation. Goulding serves as Acting Director of Public Works and Antunes is the Manager of Economic Development.
And no one was in a hurry. The discussions were as long as the participants wanted them to be.
Strategic planning consultant Tim Dobbie spoke with ElliotLakeToday at the event. “I would tell people it’s a real opportunity to have some impact and we’ll love to see them tomorrow. We would really encourage people to come out.”
Dobbie heard some criticisms from the attendees during the first session. “People have been critical of the wording. They think it’s not specific enough.”
“What we’re really wanting to know is, what is it that people want changed?” Dobbie noted the plan covers a wide range of items including more development, more shopping opportunities, economic development, “all the things that municipalities try to do.”
“There’s 22 actions. We would like to hear what people want and what they think of those 22 actions.”
ElliotLakeToday spoke to the attendees as they left the meeting. Many preferred not to have their name published but most residents were willing to share their thoughts.
“With all the forest fires going on nowadays, my major concern is a forest fire. I feel we might promote a school for firefighters to come here and learn how to do prescribed burns."
"I think it’s time for the city to be really cognizant and do something about putting in [fire] breaks. That’s breaks in the forest so our town is protected,” a retired 20-year resident said.
Another resident, Susan Wood, thought the action items were difficult for most people to understand.
“If they look at all those 22 items there, they would look like legal jargon.”
After attending the open house and asking questions, Wood sees it differently. “I’m finding it seemed like a very broad overview. Things we’re [planning] to work on in the future.”
Michael Boler said, “I just find it broad. They’re looking now to fill in the specifics of what they like to do, but I like the ideas that they plan."
“Certainly, they’re looking forward to doing good things, but it’s going to take some time, and they’re trying to figure out the actual next step to take.”
Boler also talked about the empty properties at 151 Ontario Avenue and 255 King’s Hwy 108. Boler would like to see 151 Ontario Avenue become a park. “Downtown cores are usually built around parks.”
Another retired person, a resident since 2008, said, “When I first came up here, I could do things. There’s nothing to do up here anymore. That’s the problem. Maybe the council is going to do something positive, hopefully. But it takes time, so hopefully, it works out.”
One resident summarized her hope for Elliot Lake in one sentence, “My hope is there are fewer ‘silos’ and more ‘we’re in this together.'”
Arts community advocates Murray and Linda Finn were among the attendees. Commenting about the plan, Murray said, “It’s a group of motherhood statements. I agree with them all. They’re wonderful, but there’s no teeth.”
Finn was disappointed the plan was not more specific “on all the important items.”
Finn continued, “We’ve been asking to have a cultural plan for the last 20 years and they’ve avoided doing it.” Finn says the culture piece is in the draft Strategic Plan, but not clearly so everyone can see it plainly.
"It needs to be talked about,” he said.
“People know I got one issue that I’m clutching because there are a whole lot of other issues that are important to me. But this one, because it keeps being put in places where it’s silenced, I want to make sure it’s not [silenced],” Murray Finn concluded.
Linda Finn said, “If people want to see Elliot Lake stand out from other communities in the north, they need to bring their ideas to the fore to make our community different from all the rest. And I think arts and culture is one of the most important things that we can be doing to make us stand out from everybody else.”
ElliotLakeToday asked Finn whether that was reflected in the plan she saw.
Responding gently, Finn said, “Not as much as I would like.”
Edo Ten Broek took a friendly exception with ElliotLakeToday’s question, 'What is your hope for the future of Elliot Lake?'
“Well, I would say it’s not a question of hope. It’s an expectation,” said Ten Broek.
Ten Broek would like to see more citizen participation and more evidence it influences the council. Ten Broek subsequently emailed ElliotLakeToday and expressed his disappointment with the format. “A town hall approach would have been much more appropriate.”
Retired high school principal Mark Robinson talked with staff and consultants at length.
“I hope for the rejuvenation of Elliot Lake. Rebuilding infrastructure that we’ve lost," said Robinson.
“Lately it's been kind of depressing, with so many elements of our community literally falling down.
“The pandemic has hurt us in a big way in terms of [not] being able to get volunteers out to get stuff done. But we need to get back on our horse and start making things happen again in those areas."
“The other area that I would really like to see developed in Elliot Lake is considerably more effort into reconciliation with our neighbouring Indigenous communities. We are on Robinson Huron Treaty Land and we are settlers on the traditional territory. The Serpent River First Nation and in some cases, Mississauga First Nation. I think we have to grow those relationships."
“It doesn't mean because we work towards equality that somebody has to lose. That isn't the way it necessarily has to be.
ElliotLakeToday asked Robinson if this strategic planning open house is worthy of other residents' time if they are considering coming down.
“I think it can be. I think I got a lot out of this time this evening having gone through the strategic plan. But then I had an opportunity to have some discussions with some of the staff here and consultants. So I found that really quite beneficial," said Robinson.
“It's a good process because I don't think we can get anywhere unless we're talking about it and making plans and looking to the future and seeing how we can rebuild Elliot Lake.”