City Council

CITY OF COTTAGE GROVE: 2025 CITY COUNCIL RETREAT AGENDA DATE: Saturday, March 8, 2025 TIME: 8:00 AM – 3:30 PM LOCATION: Cottage Grove Community Center | Shepherd Room 700 E Gibbs Ave, Cottage Grove, OR 97424 RETREAT GOALS • Develop goals to guide the Council and organization in the 2025/2026 fiscal year • Build a shared understanding of the organization and community context to inform the goals • Build a strong and cohesive team amongst the Council and staff to advance the goals AGENDA 8:00 AM Arrival + Refreshments 8:15 AM Welcome + Agenda Overview (45 min) Purpose: Get the group centered around our purpose and agenda for the retreat, get consensus on the structure, roles, and develop guidelines for success. We will do a team building exercise to help everyone get to know each other and build the foundation of a strong team. • Welcome, Mayor Solesbee • Agenda Overview + Establish Guidelines for Success • Team Building Exercise 9:00 AM Roles of Policy + Administration (45 min) Purpose: Provide an overview of the roles of policymakers and administration in the Council-Manager form of government. Discuss the expectations that align with the roles and the partnership between Council and staff to move goals forward. • Review the Roles in the Council-Manager Form of Government • Discuss Expectations for Working Together 9:45 AM Environmental Scan: Developing Cottage Grove’s Community + Organizational Context (45 minutes) Purpose: Build a shared understanding of the current community and organizational context to inform the Council’s goal refinement. We will consider where we are today as a community and organization before mapping out where we are going through the goal process. The group discussion will include the following topics: 2024 accomplishments, department work underway and ‘in the pipeline,’ community needs, organizational trends, economic climate, political factors, technology factors, and uncertainties. • City Accomplishments + Department Work • Map the Current Context in Cottage Grove • Discuss the Themes from the Context Exercise Cottage Grove Council Retreat (Rev.2.20.25) 10:30 AM Break (10 minutes) 10:40 AM Idea Mapping (1 hour, 20 minutes) Purpose: Using the themes from context mapping exercise, Council will work with staff in small groups to discuss Council’s desired outcomes and what success looks like for the theme areas. With these desired outcomes in mind, Council will work with staff to identify supporting actions to advance these areas. The small groups will report the desired outcomes and proposed actions to the team for large group discussion and Council direction. • Idea Mapping Exercise • Small Group Presentations • Team Discussion 12:00 PM Lunch 12:30 PM Goal Mapping (1 hour, 30 minutes) Purpose: We will identify and discuss the common threads from the idea mapping exercise to identify overarching goals and supporting actions to achieve the goals. Council will provide direction on goals to move forward. • Team Discussion 2:00 PM Break (10 minutes) 2:10 PM Goal Mapping, continued (30 minutes) 2:40 PM Goal Refinement, (15 minutes) Purpose: We will review the draft goals together. Council will take part in a prioritization exercise of the goals to provide direction to staff on implementation and sequencing of staff work. • Team Discussion to Wrap up the Goals • Prioritization Exercise 2:55 PM Supporting a Strong Team to Advance the Goals (25 minutes) • Implementation Structure + Progress Reporting • Team Agreement 3:20 PM Wrap-Up + Next Steps (10 min) • Reflection • Next Steps 3:30 PM Adjourn Cottage Grove Council Retreat (Rev.2.20.25)