EDC to investigate Township rebranding

Stating that “times have changed” since the last time Clearview attempted to update its image, members of the municipality’s Economic Development Committee came before Council Monday night to request direction to hire a professional design firm to develop a new brand for the Township.

The Clearview EDC last undertook a branding exercise in 2001, recruiting volunteers within the Township to come up with a new logo for the municipality. But that effort stalled when it came back to Council. Clearview is currently using a logo and slogan – “Friendly People, Beautiful Landscapes” – that was developed at the time of amalgamation in 1996.

But as EDC member Corey Finkelstein outlined in his portion of the presentation to Council Monday night, a brand is much more than a logo and a slogan. As he put it, “a brand is a living business asset, brought to life across all touchpoints which, if properly managed, creates identification, differentiation and value.”

If the Township were to hire a professional firm, he said, it could expect to receive a new logo, a brand strategy, a visual identity, a set of brand guidelines, and some form of measurement index that would give feedback on the success of the brand.

Finkelstein also talked about the difference of “push marketing” and “pull marketing.” Many of today’s successful brands, he said, utilize the latter, incorporating things like social media to make the experience a two-way conversation between the brand-holder and the potential customer.

The potential cost of hiring a professional brand designer, said Finkelstein would be somewhere between $35,000 and $75,000. At this point, the EDC was looking for direction to come up with a more detailed cost estimate so that the Township could include the ask in its budget deliberations for 2013.

Councillor Brent Preston, who sits on the EDC, explained that, as the recently struck committee has gone about laying out its priorities and strategizing about how to bring new business and tourism to the Township, the lack of a modernized brand has consistently appeared as a “roadblock.”

But some members of Council seemed slightly leary about the pricetag, given the tough budget process that awaits them in the coming months.

“This is on our list of things to do,” said Councillor Thom Paterson. “It’s not at the bottom, but I don’t think it’s at the absolute top either. So we need to do this the smart way – to fully cost it out. And I think we need to be prepared to go at this over several years if that’s all we can afford.”

Deputy Mayor Alicia Savage seemed to support the initiative, pointing out that she was a member of the EDC the last time a branding exercise was conducted. “After that experience, I agree that hiring a professional is wise,” she said. “This has been an obstacle to a lot of initiatives – I believe we’ve set this aside one too many times.”

With that, Council passed a motion directing the EDC to create a detailed proposal to be brought forward for evaluation during the 2013 budget process.

CCC visits Council

Members of the Clearview Community Coalition came before Council Monday night to request that Council not respond in opposition to the Niagara Escarpment’s request for a judicial review of the joint board decision to approve the Duntroon quarry expansion.

This request was made in response to a resolution passed at Council’s last meeting, in which Clearview reiterated its support for the expansion and acknowledged “the fairness of the Consolidated Hearing Process.”

In her remarks, CCC president Janet Gillham noted that the process could only be considered fair if “the right of the NEC to seek a judicial review is respected.” She also pointed out that the terms of the agreement between Clearview and Walker Aggregates, reached prior to the joint board hearing, do not oblige the Township to participate in the judicial review.

Mayor Ken Ferguson was not moved by the CCC presentation, however, stating that “our position has been the same since the very start of this whole process.”

Councillor Brent Preston, who has always opposed the quarry expansion and voted against the resolution at the last Council meeting, pointed out that at this point, the process is legally out of the hands of the municipality. “Let’s just hope it’s resolved as quickly as possible,” he said. “We’ve all paid way too much for this.”

Administrative Restructuring

In preparation for the upcoming retirements of Township Director of Public Works Richard Spraggs in March 2013 and Clerk Bob Campbell in April 2013, Council created three new administrative positions Monday night. The moves will save the Township $93,500 in 2013 and $152,400 in 2014 and every year after that.

In the public works department, where up until now Deputy Director of Public Works Steve Sage has worked under Spraggs and Water/Sewer Superintendent Mike Rawn has reported to Sage, the new structure will see Sage become the General Manager of Transportation and Recreation and Rawn become the General Manager of Environmental Services. The Director of Public Works position will be eliminated in March 2013, as will Sage and Rawn’s current positions on November 1, 2012 when the new structure takes effect.

In the clerk’s department, the part-time Records Management/Freedom of Information Clerk position has been vacant since a resignation in June 2012. Brenda Falls is currently the Executive Assistant to the Clerk. Under the restructuring, the duties of both of these positions will be combined and on November 1, 2012, Falls will become the Township’s Deputy Clerk.

Councillor Thom Paterson was the lone member of Council to vote against these moves, stating he’d prefer to see the Township’s new pay-for-performance plan, which is currently in the works, in place before decisions such as this are made.

Council Remuneration Plan

After several attempts to decide on an ongoing plan for its own pay raises, Council finally voted Monday night to approve an annual cost of living increase for the Mayor and Council members, to be based each year on the previous year’s Consumer Price Index. The first increase is to take place on April 1, 2013. For reference, the CPI in 2011 was 2.3 per cent.

Stating that he did not like voting for things that would benefit himself, Councillor Paterson offered that the increase should begin at the start of the next Council term. That request was not granted, though, so Paterson voted against the motion.

The rest of Council voted in favour, with Mayor Ferguson stating that using the CPI was a “very honest way of keeping up with the times.”