Work is proceeding on a new strategic plan for Grey County.
A planning session was held last week at County Council where members were asked to identify the County’s strengths — but also its limitations and challenges.
Councillors felt their priorities should be infrastructure, economic development, service delivery and how the County intends to pay for all of it.
They also want to see the County build on its positive attributes — such as the people, their friendly nature and sense of community with active volunteerism.
Governance is another issue.
Warden Arlene Wright and Owen Sound Mayor Deb Haswell say the county should be considering moving toward a single-tier municipality.
Both note the federal and provincial government policies seem almost designed to drive lower-tier municipalities out of business.
Consultant Jean Monteith says the discussions at Council closely mirror what planners have already been told by Grey County residents in a series of public information sessions and in a random telephone survey.
She says the next steps are one-on-one meetings with specific interest groups within the County.
After that, work will begin in earnest on actually preparing the plan for presentation to Council in the fall, probably in November.
