Report to: General Committee Report Date: February 25, 2008

SUBJECT: Parks, Recreation, Culture & Library Master Plan – Accomplishments and Development of New Plan

PREPARED BY: Sara Tam, Manager of Business Planning & Innovation

RECOMMENDATION:

That the report entitled, “Parks, Recreation, Culture & Library Master Plan – Accomplishments and Development of New Plan”, be received;

And that the presentation from Mr. A. Seabrooke, Director, Strategic Services, highlighting the accomplishments in the areas of parks, recreation, culture and library during the 2004 to 2007 period be received;

And that Council approve of the general approach proposed to develop a new master plan commencing in 2008;

And that the estimated cost to the upset limit of $150,000 to be funded by the 2008 Capital Project #8262, “Parks Recreation Culture and Library Master Plan”, pending budget approval;

And that Staff be authorized and directed to do all things necessary to give effect to this resolution.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

Not applicable

1. Purpose 2. Background 3. Discussion 4. Financial

5. Others (Environmental, Accessibility, Engage 21st, Affected Units) 6. Attachment(s)

PURPOSE:

The purpose of this report is two-fold: 1) To highlight the accomplishments achieved during the 2004 and 2007 period in the areas of parks, recreation, culture, and library; and 2) To propose the development of a new master plan starting in 2008.

BACKGROUND:

Council approved of a process to update the Indoor Recreation, Culture and Library Facilities Master Plan (1999), along with the addition of outdoor recreation and sport field needs, on November 26, 2002. The review commenced with the hiring of an external consultant, Monteith Brown Planning, in 2003. Key elements of the review included demographic forecasts, public consultation and customer desires, leisure trends, potential partnership, available facilities, and facility development needs. It was a collaborative project with involvement from the internal stakeholder departments of Culture, Markham Public Library, Operations, Planning & Urban Design, Recreation, and Strategic Services.

The master plan process culminated into a final draft master plan document. The draft document was first distributed at the February 14, 2005 General Committee. Staff have made a number of presentations, discussions and reports to members of Council since that time. Emerging opportunities such as the Canadian Sport Institute Ontario (CSIO), changing demographics, and the provincial initiative to increase intensification have affected the approval of the draft plan. Due to these changes, staff propose to develop a new master plan starting in 2008.

OPTIONS/ DISCUSSION:

The draft master plan, commonly referred to as the “Parks, Recreation, Culture and Library Master Plan” (2005), has served its purpose by providing useful demographic and customer data and feedback from the public, community groups, and Council members that have informed the actions of staff. Staff in the areas of parks, recreation, culture, and library have briefly highlighted some of their achievements related to the draft 2005 master plan during the 2004 to 2007 period. The presentation of those accomplishments is provided as Attachment “A” and the details are included in Attachment “B”.

The highlighted accomplishments included improving service delivery, developing new facilities and renewing existing ones, addressing accessibility and diversity, developing partnerships to improve the quality and offering of programs and/or to offset operations, and supporting organizational excellence.

Staff propose to develop a new master plan starting in 2008 to take into account the availability of the Council Term Priorities as expressed in “Building Markham’s Future Together”, 2006 Census Data, and a number of developments that have occurred after the completion of the draft master plan in 2005. These developments include the Growth Management Strategy, the implications of undertaking the CSIO project, and the updated data on the available development charges.

The proposed approach will build on Markham’s past master plan experience and incorporate applicable better practices to create an approach that works for Markham. An external consultant with expertise in the areas of parks, recreation, culture and library will be selected through the Town’s Request for Proposal process. The successful candidate will work with the stakeholder departments to receive direction from Council and finalize an approach to develop the new master plan. Some of the elements anticipated to contribute to the approach could include demographic profiles, engagement of public, stakeholders and Council, customer needs, the location of facilities and sport fields, and incorporating the implications resulting from the developments such as Growth Management Strategy and CSIO, noted above. The process is expected to take approximately one year to complete from the date of consultant engagement.

FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS AND TEMPLATE: (external link)

The project is estimated to cost no more than $150,000 with funding provided in the 2008 capital budget Project #8262, “Parks Recreation Culture and Library Master Plan”, contingent on budget approval.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS:

It is anticipated the new master plan will consider environmental supportive opportunities such as minimizing the environmental footprint, encouraging transit-oriented facilities, and promoting environmental friendly practices.

ACCESSIBILITY CONSIDERATIONS:

Accessibility considerations will be incorporated into the review process.

ENGAGE 21^ST CONSIDERATIONS:

This project is aligned to Quality Community, Managed Growth, Infrastructure Management, Fiscal Stewardship, Organizational Excellence, and Environmental Focus.

BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:

Stakeholder departments of Culture, Markham Public Library, Operations, Planning & Urban Design, Recreation, and Strategic Services have been consulted in the preparation of this report and the accompanying attachments.

RECOMMENDED

BY: ________________________ ________________________

Allan Seabrooke, Commission Peter Loukes, Commission Lead, Community & Fire Lead, Community & Fire

Services Services

ATTACHMENTS:

Attachment “A” – “Accomplishment Highlights since the Last Master Plan Update” - Presentation

Attachment “B” – “Progress Highlights in the Areas of Parks, Recreation, Culture and Library since the Last Master Plan Update”