Terms of Reference – Economic Development Master Plan ppt

As part of its Economic Development Master Plan, Council wishes to explore ways to support these kinds of transitions and use local government assets and investments to spur innovative d

_

1

Terms of Reference – Economic Development Master Plan

Purpose and Objectives

Introduction

These Terms of Reference provide the information required to invite proposals from qualified firms to assist the Municipality of Clare with the preparation of an Economic Development Master Plan The document also provides the information to help qualified firms prepare and submit high-quality proposals in an efficient manner This in turn will support sound decision-making by the Municipality in awarding and managing the ensuing project

Background to the Terms of Reference

The Municipality of Clare is a Nova Scotia municipality located north of Yarmouth along the coast of the Bay of Fundy It is the largest Acadian region in Nova Scotia and business is mostly conducted in both of Canada’s official languages Clare’s attributes include its skilled and bilingual labour pool; competitive labour costs; specialized training to meet specific needs; proximity to deep sea ports and an unrivalled quality of life The unrivalled quality of life includes superior health care, rich French and English traditions, bilingual population, low cost housing, a virtually crime and pollution free environment, fabulous sunsets and ocean panoramas, excellent schools and a local university Université Sainte-Anne, the local university, is the only Francophone university in the province of Nova Scotia They offer a quality education to their Acadian, French and English students

Private dwellings occupied by usual residents 3 3,641 7,990

Like many rural areas, the Municipality of Clare’ population decrease can be attributed to youth out-migration coupled with an aging population This reduction magnifies the economic challenges facing the municipality including job creation and economic diversification

1

Statistics Canada 2012 Clare, Nova Scotia (Code 1203001) and Digby, Nova Scotia (Code 1203) (table) Census Profile

2011 Census Statistics Canada Catalogue no 98-316-XWE Ottawa Released February 8, 2012

http://www12.statcan.ca/census-recensement/2011/dp-pd/prof/index.cfm?Lang=E

(accessed March 6, 2012)

_

3

Despite these challenges, the Municipality of Clare strives to be a proactive municipality Its community infrastructure is varied and plentiful for

a small rural municipality Dozens of community centres/halls exist for use by community members La Villa Acadienne offers long term care to persons in need of nursing care, and the Clare Health Centre houses several family physicians and specialists as well as community health

services; all of these services are important to attract and retain residents and businesses alike The Municipality’s current (fiscal 2011-12) operating budget is $8.1 million a year, with capital expenditures (includes gas tax funded capital projects) totaling over $1 million over the 2011-2012 period

The location of the Municipality of Clare (located half way between the Town of Digby and the Town of Yarmouth) makes it an attractive hub for services in a rural setting with close proximity to town offering as well as to transportation-related products and services For employment purposes, Resource-based industries (18 per cent), Manufacturing (15 per cent), Retail trade (13 per cent), Health care and social services (11 per cent) and Educational services (11 per cent) are the five largest sectors The Municipality has many home-based businesses and in the Municipality of Clare alone, there are more than 150 small and medium-sized enterprises The largest private sector employers are Comeau’s Sea Foods, A.F Theriault & Son, Université Sainte-Anne and La Villa Acadienne Historically, the economy of Clare has been based in fisheries and forestry Now, there are more residents working in health care and social services than in most resource-based industries (including forestry) Booming and emerging industries include mink, education and culture, and health-based industries As part of its Economic Development Master Plan, Council wishes to explore ways to support these kinds of transitions and use local government assets and investments to spur innovative development in sectors with the greatest potential for Clare

The Municipality has a number of economic development initiatives under way For instance, the development of newly acquired land and assets into an industrial park in the Meteghan area is a priority for the Municipality The Municipality of Clare recently invested a portion of its Federal Gas Tax Funds in a combined heat and power plant located on the site of the former Comeau Lumber Ltd Lumber mill in Meteghan The

_

4

Municipality then gained ownership of Comeau Lumber Ltd.'s remaining assets at a Municipal Tax Sale By means of these two separate

agreements, the Municipality has secured the site in an effort to safeguard its economic development potential by taking control of the

infrastructure needed to eventually produce heat and power through the power plant and motivate new businesses to consider Clare as a location

Situated on Highway 1 in Meteghan, the site covers approximately fifty acres, has access to three-phase power and is already connected to the municipal sewer system

In March 2011, after much discussion and pursuant to its « Clare Energy Master Plan », the Municipality of Clare council decided to purchase the idle one megawatt combined heat and power biomass plant and all associated equipment located on the site of the now bankrupt Comeau Lumber Ltd In Meteghan The "Clare Energy Master Plan" focuses on energy reduction for the community and project development suggestions for the innovative use of renewable and green energy solutions The $ 225,000 purchase was paid for completely with Federal Gas Tax Funds The acquisition by the Municipality of Clare prevented an auction by the Bankruptcy Trustees

The remaining assets of Comeau Lumber Ltd., which could not be purchased with Federal Gas Tax Funds, including all lands, buildings and equipment became the property of the Municipality of Clare on May 6th via a Municipal Tax Sale where the Municipality of Clare exercised its right to proceed to the recovery of unpaid property taxes through a tax sale, acquiring title to all the assets

The Municipality of Clare is now prepared to make ready the site in order to be able to accommodate tenants Negotiations can be entertained with any company interested in modernizing and operating the lumber mill on site as well as with other prospective businesses looking to locate

on site

The same consideration will also have to be given to the Municipality of Clare’s Municipal Planning Strategy (MPS); the result of the need for a fair and efficient means to manage land-use in the Municipality of Clare Clare was also required by Provincial and Federal governments to develop an Integrated Community Sustainability Plan (ICSP) to access the Gas Tax Transfer funds from the Federal government The Municipality has integrated the ICSP sustainability requirements with its MPS The integration of sustainability principles into the MPS has allowed the MPS to act as the ICSP for the Municipality The Economic Development Master Plan must consider these documents as it aims to add value to the existing plans

In 2012, the Municipality of Clare confirmed its support for the development of an Economic Development Master Plan to guide development across the entire Municipality as well as to serve as the umbrella plan under which specific opportunities and decisions could be assessed For instance, Council currently has the opportunity to pursue a number of initiatives at its newly acquired industrial park site; decisions about these opportunities (whether to proceed with these initiatives, in what way, in what order and at what cost to the municipality) should be made with due consideration to a broader vision of how the entire Municipality will develop As a result, Council sees the development of the Plan as the

Several economic and community economic development organization exist in the community and offer up a multitude of resources and services These entities are often successful at managing projects, providing project support and partnering on project development A detailed look at how the Municipality can benefit from these organizations’ efforts is important to assist in determining how we can best take advantage

of what is already being done as we plan for the future An inventory of “who does what” would be useful in project planning and resource allocation

Partnership engagement and furthering these partnerships in the interest of community growth is paramount in the Plan development as it has proven in the past to be one of the strongest drivers of economic development in our Municipality The consultants will review the existing partnerships between the Municipality and its key community partners One such great collaboration is that of the Municipality and Université Sainte-Anne The consultants will examine how this very effective affiliation can be made stronger Areas to examine will include the

development of strategies leading to the retention of students in our community past graduation as a way to counter our decreasing population and to stimulate business development with young entrepreneurs, the identification of possible strategies to ensure these young educated individuals are made to feel as they are part of the entire community

Objectives of the Economic Development Master Plan Process and Outcomes

The Economic Development Master Plan process and the outcomes from it are expected to:

_

7

• Engage communities of interest in economic development planning process and outcomes

• Help the Municipality, its residents and business operators understand distinctive and unique features and opportunities in Clare and how to capitalize on those features and opportunities for economic development purposes

• Provide a formal long-term (5-10 year) plan for Council and staff to consider, approve and use as a reference for informed, strategic

decision-making as issues and opportunities arise

• Provide a plan for the establishment of a structure to lead economic development efforts

• Within the context of the overall plan, provide Council and staff with specific advice and recommendations related to the designated core development area and the role(s)/contribution(s) of specific properties owned by the Municipality

_

8

Plan Area/ Geographic boundaries (include maps)

Proponents will be expected to consider the entire Municipality as well as its newly acquired lands (former Comeau Lumber lands) in the Master Plan development process:

• Municipality-wide: focused primarily on identification of broad opportunities and constraints, and the strategies by which these can be

achieved This scale considers the Municipality’s geographic location in the region and in relation to neighboring centres, as well as the Municipality’s physical, human, financial and economic attributes and characteristics

• Industrial park land in Meteghan: within the context of the Municipality-wide perspective, the main focus of the Master Plan process will be

on specific studies, plans and recommendations outlined in this Request for Proposal Specifically the target area is 7662 Highway 1

Meteghan NS

Scope of the Assignment

• A High-level Plan at the Municipality-wide Level: Consideration must be given to both existing and emerging sectors, examples of which are

shown in the chart below These examples are not meant to be prescriptive or to limit consultants’ thinking on what might be possible for the Municipality of Clare

_

9

physician/medical services) Retreat and Relaxation Services Community-focused Recreation Tourism – Resource-based Cultural Tourism, Eco-Tourism, Low-Impact

Tourism Camping Experiences for Specific Groups

_

10

Mandatory Standards of Work

• The consultants must have the capacity to conduct the work in both official languages (French and English) and the ability to produce the final document in both official languages (French and English)

• The consultants will be expected to work from but not be limited to existing plans and information to be provided for their assistance The consultants will be expected to go beyond traditional forms of economic development (business attraction, business retention and

expansion) to reflect contemporary best practices in economic development in the recommended strategies The ability to do so should be reflected in any submissions

• Where specific components of work so require, the successful bidder will ensure that these components are undertaken or reviewed/signed off by one or more members of the consulting team with appropriate professional credentials and qualifications Bidders are encouraged to identify these components in their proposals along with the standards which will be applied in each case

Deliverables Expected from the Economic Development Master Plan

This project will have multiple deliverables:

• An Economic Development Strategy/Plan detailing:

• Inventory of Municipality’s major assets viewed from an economic development perspective (may be human, physical, geographic, financial etc.) (ex: transportation infrastructure such as airport in Yarmouth)

• Identification of distinctive/unique features and competitive advantages which could be utilized in both product development and marketing strategies on behalf of the Municipality

• Discussion of external trends affecting economic development and implications for the Municipality of Clare

_

11

• Opportunities and constraints, including but not limited to 1) strategies for extracting greater economic benefit for the community from existing assets (physical, human, financial etc.) ,and 2) strategies for capitalizing on demographic changes such as aging of communities (possible development of age-friendly community marketing)

• Desired outcomes from implementation of an economic development strategy (e.g employment growth, assessment growth, increased revenues to local government, increased awareness of Clare in target markets)

• Roles/actions for local government, the private sector, public institutions or NFPs, and any opportunities for effective use of private partnerships An emphasis on partnership development between the Municipality of Clare and Université Sainte-Anne shall

public-be examined in the economic development context

• Recommendation outlining how the Municipality will organize its economic development activities by means of an enduring structure that will lead sustainable development, engage partners and earn results

• Multi-Year Implementation Plan (assuming a 5 to 10 year timeframe) with major initiatives/projects, key decision points and milestones identified This implementation plan would provide Council with guidance on which initiatives to act on, in what order, and over what timeframe

• Order-of-magnitude cost estimates for implementing major components of the plan (e.g identified infrastructure investments)

Note that the recommended roles/actions, multi-year implementation plan and order-of-magnitude cost estimates must cover the overall Strategy/Plan including the specific studies, plans and recommendations described below

Because Council will want to pursue external funding to support implementation of various initiatives identified in the Plan, the

successful consultants will be encouraged to write the Plan so that sections could be extracted to support funding applications for each