Montrose council was presented with the formal copy of the village's 2014 annual report at Monday night's council meeting, giving residents and elected officials a snapshot of what tasks the village has completed, which are in progress, and which are still on the agenda.
Bryan Teasdale, chief administrative officer for Montrose, says the report is a tool for councillors and village staff to see how the previous year went for village operations and planned objectives. The document also gives the village a guideline for making future decisions, including budgetary choices.
“It is a comprehensive document,” he said.
“It gives us an idea of 2015 and 2016 goals and objectives and is a measurable document that shows how things went throughout the past year.”
The report shows the village's audited financial statements and budget breakdowns for 2014, as well as previously constructed goals and level of completion.
In 2014, the village planned to have finished items under administrative, public works, water, sewer, roads, drainage and parks and recreation. Nearly all of last year's objectives have been completed or have been identified as in the works.
Throughout 2015, the village plans to move forwards on public works equipment upgrades with the replacement of a snow plow unit, and identification of future upgrade priorities.
The report even looks ahead two years with a look at objectives that are a bit farther off in the future for the village, and may require more than one year to complete.
For example, in relation to this year's objectives, the village plans, in the long term, to continue putting away funds in reserve to spend on future equipment upgrades.
There are housekeeping items in the report as well, like the objective to continuously upgrade and review bylaws to ensure they are best serving the village and its residents.
Teasdale says the main benefit of the 2014 Annual Report is to have a tangible look at how village operations have been going, if everything is on track, and how to grow more in the future.
The full 2014 Annual Report is available for anyone to read at the Montrose Village Office. It will be available until the next report is released in 2016.