Prince George city council addressed its new downtown Prince George strategy at Monday night’s public meeting.
Downtown Prince George will now be leading a team to oversee the overall strategy, with the Prince George Chamber of Commerce, Tourism Prince George, and the city as team members.
The strategy was presented in a report to council, which was developed in partnership with Downtown Prince George and a consulting firm.
As specific goals and initiatives are developed, the team will seek input and involvement from various organizations in the community.
“I just thought that this document strategy itself was really well done,” said Coun. Cori Ramsay.
“I just want to commend them for leading this and just it really is a phenomenal document, I think it is going to change downtown and bring a lot of vibrancy to it. I am especially excited about the concept of the downtown street teams, I think that this is going to be a really great collaborative opportunity between the city, downtown and, and community partners.”
Ramsay then asked city staff what the timeline would be for establishing this team.
Deanna Wasnik, Director, Planning and Development, said there is not a specific timeline for establishing the team, yet.
“But it's certainly an exciting item for us to have the city Prince George, Tourism Prince George, and Downtown Prince George at the same table to discuss the implementation of the strategy being led by downtown Prince George,” she said.
“So with that, though, obviously, to create this team as soon as possible is ideal.”
Coun. Kyle Sampson said the strategy not only highlights the good of downtown, but also speaks about the challenges ahead.
“My appreciation really lies with the realist approach on this, it really features and highlights the good of our downtown, but it's speaks, about some of the challenges we have and addresses them head on which I think if we bury our head in the sand and pretend like it's all sunshine and rainbows, we're not going to make it anywhere,” said Sampson.
He then inquired if staff needed any further direction from council.
City staff then confirmed that the strategy will guide the city into initiatives that they can take action on right now, what to plan for in the near future, and what sort of to plan for the long term.
Something like an infrastructure project would take further financial planning and discussions and need to come back to council regardless.
Sampson then requested an report come back in the summer about an update for the strategy and its implementation.
