Mayor & City Council

MINUTES Public Hearing of the College Park City Council Tuesday, July 7, 2015 7:00 – 7:15 p.m. Draft 2015-2020 Strategic Plan PRESENT: Mayor Fellows; Councilmembers Kabir (arrived at 7:04 p.m.), Wojahn, Brennan, Dennis, Stullich, Day, Hew and Mitchell. ABSENT: None. ALSO PRESENT: Joe Nagro, City Manager; Bill Gardiner, Assistant City Manager; Janeen Miller, City Clerk; Suellen Ferguson, City Attorney; Bob Ryan, Director of Public Services; Miriam Bader, Senior Planner; Cole Holocker, Student Liaison. Mayor Fellows opened the Public Hearing on the proposed 2015-2020 Strategic Plan at 7:00 p.m. and invited consultant Catherine Tuck Parrish to provide an overview. Ms. Tuck Parrish said that when this process began in January, we tried to answer three questions: What do we know to be true (environmental scan - where are we now), what do we hope to be true in the future (Council vision and goals for where we want to go), and what must go well in order to make it so (action plan and implementation). She reviewed the process and timeline: there were four focus groups with 55 participants; 223 respondents to the community survey; and council and staff each had specific input. Council workshops were held in February. In March and April we sought community input. During April – June the draft Strategic Plan was refined and sent to staff to develop the action plan. Council should adopt the Strategic Plan in August and provide feedback to staff on the Action Plan and give staff permission to move forward on implementation, identify any additional staff or community resources that will be needed, place quarterly updates on Council agendas going forward, and incorporate the plan into budget documents in the future. Mayor Fellows invited public comment. Mary Cook, 4705 Kiernan Road: Under “Excellent Services”: She has received some excellent services from staff this year. She thinks that gas and water main replacement should be incorporated into the Strategic Plan – we have aging infrastructure and have to keep them in good repair. Also under “Excellent Services” she didn’t see anything about our seniors: we need to improve the effectiveness of our service to senior citizens. Regarding communication: she saw there was supposed to be a full time communication person: Rather than adding an FTE for communication we should use the University. Regarding “Leadership” it takes good communication with your constituents to make for good leadership. They have established a Civic Association Leaders association that meets quarterly. There being no further public comment, Mayor Fellows closed the public hearing at 7:15 p.m. and announced that Council would take a brief recess and continue with discussion about the Strategic Plan at 7:20 p.m. __________________________________________ Janeen S. Miller, CMC Date Approved City Clerk