Report to: General Committee Date
Report Authored:
SUBJECT: Approval of
PREPARED BY: Catherine Biss, CEO,
Sara Tam, Manager, Business Planning & Innovation
Colin Service, Manager, Planning & Policy Development
RECOMMENDATION:
1) THAT the report entitled “Approval of Markham’s Integrated Leisure Master Plan” be received;
2)
3)
4) AND 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 of the Integrated Leisure Master Plan for parks, recreation, culture and library facilities and services for the period ending 2019 and to highlight the comprehensive approach undertaken to develop the Plan’s recommendations.
BACKGROUND:
The Integrated
Leisure Master Plan is a key deliverable of the “Parks, Recreation, Culture
& Library Master Plan / Public Safety” priority outlined in the Building Markham’s Future Together (BMFT)
initiative, as established by Markham Council.
In 2008, the Town of
As outlined in
the ILMP document, the project is made up of three phases: 1) Research; 2) Analysis; and 3)
Recommendation development. Extensive
research included background review, demographic data review, trend analysis,
inventory of existing facilities and services, and public consultation. Analysis of the research data falls into five
areas, namely research and consultation, service delivery improvements,
identification of infrastructure needs, formulation of ILMP mission and goals,
and financial strategy and considerations.
The first two phases serve as the foundation for the development of
recommendations that are relevant and appropriate for the
The Integrated Leisure Master Plan assesses the needs of the community against the available supply of identified community facilities and services. Trends and population forecasts are used to anticipate future needs with the understanding that the ILMP is a living document and recalibration will need to take place about every five years.
Public consultation is a very important and necessary component to the success of the Integrated Leisure Master Plan – in collecting initial data and in shaping the recommendations – and it is highlighted in the report. There were two main consultation programs undertaken during the development of the ILMP.
1) Public Input on Project and Data
Collection (Oct 2008- June 2009)
During the research period, outreach and consultation were sought from user groups, residents, community groups, stakeholder organizations, and non-users. This included a statistically representative random household telephone survey, user group surveys, stakeholder interviews, community search conference, six public input sessions, small group interviews, and BMFT public engagement session.
The public consultation data, along with other data sources, form the basis of the Analysis phase.
2) Public Input
of Draft Recommendations (March 2010)
The draft ILMP
document was presented to the General Committee on
In total, over 20 meetings were held to seek input on the draft ILMP. Some of the participants included various sport user groups and ratepayers groups, Markham Youth Councils, Community Youth Councils, seniors groups, Markham Arts Council, and Markham Advisory Committee on Accessibility. Additionally, 80 questionnaires were completed and a number of correspondences were received. Overall the feedback consistently expressed that the ILMP was a comprehensive and thorough document that accurately reflected the leisure needs of and the future direction for the community.
Listed below are a summary of the comments that we received through the public consultation process:
o Leisure services are important to the quality of life of residents
o
Gaps in service in certain
areas of
o Need to improve awareness of the initiatives undertaken by Markham and community groups through better joint marketing and promotional activities
o Active Living – fitness services growing in demand
o Drop-in programs are highly valued
o Dedicated spaces within existing community centres for seniors and youth
o Need for multi-generational programming
o More study spaces in libraries and support for lifelong learning
o Services should keep pace with development – waiting too long for community centres and parks
o Parks, trails and open spaces vital – need to connect spaces and places better
o Need for artificial sports fields and all season play places
o Increase cultural opportunities within neighbourhoods and existing community centres
o Opportunities for partnerships and community engagement at neighbourhood level welcomed
A workshop was held with Council members on February 8 and staff were instructed to hold Council Education Sessions in March. In total, three were held (March 22, March 30, April 1) and they provided Council members with the opportunities to ask questions and provide comments to shape the master plan document. The feedback from the public consultation, Council Education Sessions, and staff has resulted in revisions to the draft document presented at the February 8 General Committee.
OPTIONS/ DISCUSSION:
The following Mission Statement was endorsed by Council and served as a guide in the development of the ILMP:
Markham’s Parks,
The Mission Statement contributes to a
quality of life that attracts and retains diverse and talented residents,
supports a community-wide commitment to lifelong active living and learning,
and advances
Building on the Mission Statement, nine
primary goals have been established that align with the priorities of Building
Markham’s Future Together. These goals
will assist
o Goal 1: Strategic and Sustainable Investment in Infrastructure
o Goal 2: Align Leisure Services with the Growth Management Strategy
o Goal 3: New Strategies for Markham 2020 – the Creative Knowledge-Based Economy
o Goal 4: Community Engagement and Outreach: Building Social Capital and Strengthening Neighbourhoods
o Goal 5: Placemaking
o Goal 6: Inclusion, Access and Equity
o Goal 7: Maintain an Environmental and Sustainable Focus
o Goal 8: Collective Focus on Community Issues – Integrated Service Delivery
o Goal 9: Service Excellence and Leadership
One key defining
aspect of the Integrated Leisure Master Plan is the focus on neighbourhood and
community engagement supported by integration among
The ILMP contains over 200 recommendations ranging from adopting industry best practices of little or no cost to major infrastructure expenses. Approval of the ILMP enables staff to move forward with development of implementation plans related to the recommendations. In situations where recommendations involve major business transformations or significant investments, staff will follow current practice and provide staff reports to Council.
In conclusion,
the Integrated Leisure Master Plan prioritizes the needs of the community by
developing recommended actions that will support and continuously improve the
quality of life in
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS AND
TEMPLATE:
A Financial Strategy was completed by Hemson and is incorporated as a component of the ILMP. As previously stated, recommendations involving financial implications, and their related implementation strategies will be reported back to Council for consideration. Council is not approving a funding strategy with the plan as funding will be approved on a project-by-project basis through the Town’s existing business planning and capital and operating budget processes.
The projects recommended by the ILMP have a total capital cost of $362.9M, with the net cost attributable to the Town being $325.5M after grants/subsidies of $37.4M. Development charges will be the main source of funding for the program, which based on the projected timing, will see approximately 77% of the cost being attributable to the 2010-2014 period, with the remaining 23% being incurred in the 2015-2019 period.
As a result of the infrastructure cost of the ILMP program being weighted towards the first half of the ten-year planning period, the Town will require financing until development charge revenues can be collected to cover the expended capital costs. This period of borrowing is expected to occur from 2011-2023 and is estimated to peak at approximately $53M in 2014. The Town will investigate other sources of funding such as grants/partnerships in order to reduce the borrowing that the pre-emplacement of facilities (building facilities in advance of population growth) is expected to create. Risks with pre-emplacing facilities is that there may be increases in development charge rates as a result of the cost of financing the projects as well as the potential that the target population will not be achieved thus reducing development charge revenues. The risks can be monitored and managed through incorporating the ILMP into annual business planning and capital and operating budget processes.
It should be noted that there will also be additional funding requirements expected from other areas such as Fire Services, Public Works and Town Wide Hard Services (engineering-related works). These other services – particularly engineering works – will increase the funding requirements of the Town to meet the anticipated growth-related capital costs; total funding requirements are therefore estimated to peak at $138M in approximately 2018-2019. It is estimated that with the additional funding required by the other services areas, the Town will require financing until 2028 at which time development charges will catch up.
The usage of the gross population to determine the maximum allowable recoverable through development charges is under appeal. The Town is of the view that the usage of the gross population to calculate the service levels and maximum allowable accurately reflects the cost of providing services, at historic levels, for expected growth. This method is currently used by some municipalities and is being adopted by many other municipalities.
As well, the Town will be required to fund non-DC costs (10% portion) of approximately $31M and due to the pre-emplacement of facilities, incur the operating costs of these facilities prior to the supporting assessment growth.
HUMAN RESOURCES CONSIDERATIONS
There are a variety of recommendations that have human resource implications. As is the case with financial implications, specific recommendations that have significant human resource implications will follow current practices in providing a business case for consideration.
ALIGNMENT WITH STRATEGIC PRIORITIES:
Development of the ILMP has been identified as a key strategic priority of Council as a component of Building Markham’s Future Together. Completion of the ILMP represents a significant accomplishment in reaching the goals established for this term of Council.
Staff leads associated with the development of the various strategic priorities haveesprit served as members of the Project Team to ensure that the ILMP aligns with the other priorities of Council. Strong linkages to Sustainability Plan, Diversity Plan, Economic Development Strategic Plan and Growth Management Plans.
BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:
Parks
Operations, Financial Services,
RECOMMENDED
BY: ________________________ ________________________
John Livey Brenda Librecz
& Fire Services and Project Sponsor
________________________
Catherine Biss
CEO of
and Project Manager
ATTACHMENTS:
Appendix “A” – Integrated Leisure Master Plan