The City of Ottawa is asking rural residents to make recommendations for improvements to the municipal services that affect them.
The outreach was outlined by Stephane Galipeau, who is stakeholder engagement coordinator for the city before a meeting of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee received on April 4.
This spring the city will collect insights and perspectives through a survey and in-person workshops in Orléans East-Cumberland, West Carleton-March, Orléans South-Navan, Osgoode and Rideau-Jock wards. The workshops start April 10 and end June 1.
“We want to take a look at the current services that they receive, we want to explore future plans at short, medium and long term and identify opportunities for rural communities and highlight challenges that need to be addressed,” said Galipeau.
The insights gathered will contribute to a rural summit planned for November.
“We understand this would be the best time for rural residents as many of them are farmers,” said Galipeau.
The committee also approved $93,000 in grants to Rural Community-Building Grants Program projects. The city will continue to accept applications until the annual budget is fully allocated.
The budget allotted $60,000 to the Navan Community Association for development of an outdoor pavilion on the Navan fairgrounds.
“The grant for Navan is larger than we typically see. This is an important project for Navan, and there are a lot of people coming together to make this happen and I am very grateful,” said Orléans South-Navan Coun. Catherine Kitts.
