Report to: General Committee Report
Date:
SUBJECT: Building a Creative
PREPARED BY: John Ryerson, Director of Culture
RECOMMENDATION:
- That the staff report titled Building a Creative Markham Policy and Plan dated November 9, 2009 be received, and;
- And that a project to develop a Cultural Policy and Plan be approved at the total cost of $100,000 and the funding be provided as follows:
Economic Development Account: A/C 610-101-5699-10003
“
Sustainability Office A/C #230-101-5399-9345 $ 10,000
Culture Department A/C 560-560-5699 $ 3,269
Capital Project #7166 (Recreation & Culture Organization Review) $ 21,731
Provincial Grant (subject to approval by the Province) $ 50,000
-----------
Total $100,000
- Further, that staff be authorized and directed to do all things necessary to give effect to this resolution.
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this report is to seek approval for the process and timelines to undertake the “Building a Creative Markham Policy and Plan” pending approval of the Provincial Grant.
BACKGROUND:
The Town of
The project will proceed in two phases:
Phase 1 - Creation of a cultural policy
Phase 2 - Creation of a cultural plan
Many cultural policies and plans fail to address the uniqueness and specific needs of their community. In addition, other plans rely heavily on consultants. This project will be led by the Culture Department and will rely on broad community engagement.
DISCUSSION/OPTIONS:
The Cultural Plan will provide the direction for developing, managing,
promoting and celebrating local cultural assets. It will enable
The cultural plan will position
“Building a Creative
To achieve Council’s goals related to sustainability and to deliver this plan with a high value for dollar, an innovative approach to engagement and use of consultants is being proposed.
The Culture Department will:
- Use consultants in an advisory capacity only
- Use a Creative Markham community task force as volunteer support to the process
-
Collaborate with business,
university, and community resources. Opportunities exist through our strong
TIMING:
·
Cultural Policy development January – March 2010 (Phase 1)
o Public
input to develop draft cultural policy in January 2010
o Present
draft policy to Committee in February 2010
o Present
draft policy for public consultation in February 2010
o Council
to adopt policy in March 2010
·
Cultural Plan Development March – December 2010 (Phase
2)
o Develop
a strategy for community engagement, consultation and organization of data by April
2010
o May
– August 2010 data collection
o August
– December 2010 development of cultural plan
o Cultural
Plan development completion by
o Presentation
to Council spring 2011
o Implementation
through 2012
o Evaluation
and performance monitoring 2013 – 2014
The Cultural Policy and Plan will articulate a mandate to guide municipal cultural development and will provide the framework and direction to:
- Position
- Develop cultural strategies for our diverse community
- Develop strategies
that integrate creative technologies and business into cultural planning
- Develop strategies to
integrate the creative community into
- Plan program synergies between the three cultural venues and the cultural community
- Develop more creative
business planning for the three cultural venues
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS
Many components of the project will be supported through Town resources. Funds are required for the following activities:
- Professional advice and consultation $20,000
- Data collection – contract staff directed by Culture staff 35,000
- Public Meetings 3,000
- Communications, media and marketing 20,000
- Data organization and writing of
plan – contract staff 22,000
Total $100,000
Funds in the amount of $21,731 are available in capital project account 7166, relating to the organization review by Recreation and Culture. Development of a cultural plan is a natural extension of the organization review.
The Culture department will lead this project with input from the Economic Development Department and Sustainability Office. Economic Development and Sustainability Office have agreed to fund part of this project from their 2010 operating budgets.
The Town has
applied for a matching grant of $50,000 from the
Economic Development Account: A/C610-101-5699-10003
“
Sustainability Office (A/C #230-101-5399-9345 ) $ 10,000
Culture Department A/C 560-560-5699 $ 3,269
Capital Project #7166 (Recreation & Culture Organization Review) $ 21,731
Provincial Grant (subject to approval by the Province) $ 50,000
-----------
Total $100,000
Should the funding of $50,000 from Provincial Grants not be approved, then the development of the Cultural Plan will be delayed.
ALIGNMENT WITH STRATEGIC PRIORITIES:
The Province
supports Municipal Cultural Planning as a key strategy for
The Business
Plan of the new Sustainability Office includes culture as a fourth pillar in
community sustainability. The Integrated Leisure Master Plan is anticipated to
include recommendations for a comprehensive culture plan. Culture is a key
strategy in
An internal cross departmental “Creative Markham” Steering Team consisting of Planning, Libraries, Economic Development and Sustainability has been created to develop the policy framework and ensure coordination with other departmental policies and strategies.
A community based advisory committee will be proposed to Council when the policy is presented.
DEPARTMENTS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:
Planning and Urban Design Department
Economic Development
Sustainability Office
Recreation
RECOMMENDED BY:
________________________ ________________________
John Ryerson Brenda Librecz
Director of Culture Commissioner, Community &
Fire Services