City of Kenora Council Summary for June 21, 2023

This summary is a snapshot of the decisions made by City of Kenora Council at the June 21, 2023 meeting. Please review the Minutes for an official record of the meeting proceedings.

Council appoints Kenora Crime Prevention and Community Well-Being Advisory Committee members

Council appointed the following members to the Kenora Crime Prevention and Community Well-Being Advisory Committee:

• Taras Manzie
• Shannon Bailey
• Denise Forsyth
• Darcia Curtis
• Regan Dearborn
• Laurel Pirrie 
• Jill Hager
• Jared Olson
• Jodelle Makysmchuk
• Jeff Duggan (alternates: Jim Neild and Grant Cowles)

The Committee will work closely with Eric Shih, Community Safety and Well-Being Coordinator, who starts in the new position on July 17, 2023.

Council adopts customer service standards policy  

Council adopted a customer service standards policy which amends the current customer service policy in place to improve customer experiences. The new policy clarifies expectations and the process for handling customer requests by City employees. The goal is for all employees to assist customers in a timely, accurate, professional, competent, courteous, and consistent manner. The standards included in this policy will strengthen the consistent expectations of staff, and what the public can expect from staff when they are contacting the City.

New additions to the policy include:

• standardization of telephone greetings,
• voicemail greetings,
• email signatures,
• out of office responses,
• guidelines for response times to customer inquiries.

View the July 17 media release for details on the implementation of the customer reporting tool.

Council adopts corporate complaint policy

Council adopted a corporate complaint policy to enable the City of Kenora to promptly and effectively address program and delivery concerned raise by the public. 

Council accepts communication audit report

Council accepted the Communication Audit Report as prepared by The Hub @ Sutherland.  The Report provides an overview of the communications audit, a summary of its findings and resulting recommendations. These findings and recommendations can be leveraged by the City as the groundwork to take their next steps in the strategic communications planning process. This could include developing an updated communication strategy and a comprehensive action plan to execute the strategy in the future.

Council approves development contribution by-law

Council approved a Development Contribution By-law which authorizes the City of Kenora to enter into financial support agreements for private development projects. Projects that are eligible for consideration must demonstrate public benefit in the interest of the municipality. Potential public benefits include, but are not limited to:

• Employment creation;
• The development of a destination or tourist attraction (preference will be given to attractions that are year-round); or
• Infrastructure that provides benefit beyond the particular project, which results in broader community use.

Council will consider requests to enter into a Development Contribution Agreement on an individual basis. Any financial contribution made to a particular development will financially impact the City in the short-term. These investments will be offset by future increased tax levy being generated by a particular new development or project. Sources of funding for these will be projects will be determined by Council on a case-by-case basis.