Over the past couple of weeks, the council met to define the top five priorities for the city in 2023 as well as the longer-term priorities out to 2026. To determine these priorities, council members first went through a brainstorming session to list as many priorities as possible. Afterwards, each council member provided her/his three top ranked votes. It was hard to break down everything we want to accomplish to just three votes but ultimately, the final top five priorities were selected from these lists.
In 2023 the top priorities for the council are the following:
First, commence development of the DRCC master plan. Council is committed to engaging the community further, coalescing around a plan on what the DRCC will look like. Up to this point everyone has discussed multiple recreational and public uses for the space and a plan should move forward this year.
Second, complete strategic plan for ARPA funding. Last year council had multiple meetings regarding how the five million in ARPA funding should be spent. I personally feel that this funding was given to make up for the income gap the city had during COVID because of shutdowns and should be used to cover expenses that should have been taken care of during that time to enhance the community. Under this category such items as purchasing a new street sweeper and sprucing up the medians on our major roads will be looked at.
Third, enhance community engagement and communications plan. Over the past few years the communications team has been developing and implementing a communications plan that has been getting the community involved and keeping them informed. A priority is to continue building upon the success of the plan to ensure that we are reaching all residents.
Fourth, develop and agree on the scope and objectives of the five year strategic plan by July 1st. As council began discussing the importance of a five year plan, it became obvious that each member of council has their own idea of what a strategic plan looks like and how to create one. After a robust discussion the majority decided the best way to approach this is to have a study session and come to a consensus on what the five year plan should include as well as what methods should be utilized to compose it.
Finally, develop a policing plan to increase police presence. Residents reach out to us often to indicate their desire to see more officers patrolling the community and being present to slow down cars. You should be seeing an increased presence in the coming months.
Note that there are many priorities that did not make the top five but are still very important and will continue to move forward. You can check out the council recordings to review everything that was discussed. I am excited that we have laid out a plan to focus on and I am looking forward to accomplishing our ambitious targets this year. Let me know what you think. ◆
