Strategic Plan Advisory Committee

City of Geneva Strategic Plan Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes Geneva City Hall Geneva, IL 60134 Wednesday July 17, 2013 7:00 pm 1. Call to Order-Meeting called to order by Chairman Brault at 7:01 pm 2. Roll Call-Brault, Dispensa, Juby, Lingham, Main, Walsma. Also present- Stephanie Dawkins, Luke McClanahan. Absent-Backus, Merrill, Ploppert. 3. Amendments to the Agenda-Chairman Brault amended to include under Sub- Committee Reports-discussion about establishing alternate liaisons to sub-committee assignments; adding website update to Additional Business. 4. Approval of Submitted Reports a. Approval of Minutes –Motion to approve-Juby; second-Lingham. Motion carried unanimously. b. Approval of Budget- Motion to approve-Juby; second-Main. Discussion included current spending habits of subcommittees since 2010. Chairman Brault recognized exemplary fundraising skills of NRC and ICEC and wondered whether or not both groups continue to need SPAC money. Discussion also included moving funding from one subcommittee budget to another as needed, taking lump sum approach and paying on a first come, first serve basis, and re-establishing liaison as point person to share subcommittees’ upcoming projects with SPAC members and vice versa. Concern was expressed that while money was not necessarily being spent now that there may be a shortfall as SPAC sanctioned new initiatives and sub committees expanded their projects. Also, members discussed viability of asking subcommittee chairs to present to SPAC once a year and perhaps justify their budget amount requests. 5. Sub-Committee Reports A. Bike-Ped- Bike-Ped spent its budget in a cooperative effort ($500/ Public Works $700) “Bike to Metra Guide” published by IDOT to help people use public transportation and their bikes. In exchange for $1200, Geneva is included in the suburban map guide. Chairman Brault also mentioned how important bicycle planning is to the new Strategic Plan and that their subcommittee will have much work to do in future. Discussion included a “free” bike rental program, similar to the program in Chicago that the City is exploring. ICEC-Dawkins reported that they are looking for host families for August for several French high school boys who will be here for three weeks. Also, ICEC has issued an open invitation for individuals to accompany them to our sister city in France October 11- 15th. Individuals would be responsible for airfare (between $1000-$1200) and Gala dinner expense ($75) but lodging would be free as French families would host. Additionally, the art fair at Peck Farm was well attended. NRC-NRC met with City staff and did walking tour down 3rd street to determine new tree planting locations. 31 sites were identified with planting to occur in October. Tree replacement will be funded through fundraising dollars. In addition, NRC was able to complete the planting at City Hall of an Oak Grove. Funding also came through private monies. Student Government-no report, on summer vacation B. Chairman Brault introduced the idea of Alternate Liaisons to attend subcommittee meetings in the event that liaisons were not available so that each subcommittee would have representation at all meetings. If no alternates are available, sub committees will send a representative to the next SPAC meeting. Contacts are as follows: Bike/Ped- Dave Peterson, Chair; Bob Backus, Liaison; Mark Brault, Alternate. Meetings TBD quarterly. ICEC- Cynthia Albright, Chair; Zac Ploppert, Liaison. Due to meeting times at 5:30 on the second Tuesday of the month, SPAC members ask that in the advent of Zac being unable to attend, ICEC would send a representative to communicate directly to SPAC at the next meeting. NRC- Jay Womack, Chair; Jeff Walsma, Liaison; Geetha Lingham, Alternate. Meetings @ 7pm first Wednesday of each month. Student Government-Sue Khalaieff, GHS; Anna Dispensa, Stephanie Dawkins, Representatives. (built in alternate) 6. Outreach/ Public Relations sub-committee creation Driving better Public/Private Sector cooperation discussion Chairman Brault reminded the committee of the importance of two way communications and the difficulty both the City and the constituents had in gaining information. He suggested that reciprocal communication opportunities to enhance the planning process and goal setting/achievement would benefit all stakeholders. It was mentioned that Barb Merrill had made up business cards to distribute to individuals with questions/ concerns/ comments. SPAC members thought this was an important first step to fulfill their mission of community outreach for the City’s new strategic plan. It was determined that SPAC members would receive City business cards identifying them as volunteer SPAC members with their contact information. Due to time constraints because of bi monthly meeting schedules, members charged Dawkins with purchasing cards for each member as long as cost did not exceed budget for New Projects ($500). Members did request a protocol for handling constituent concerns. It was determined that in this “trial” phase, SPAC members would answer the questions that they could, forward to city staff all others and remember to keep the focus on the STRATEGIC PLAN. Also, they would be able to input questions into new city website after it comes on line. 7. Update on Strategic Plan process City Council and department heads will be meeting for an all day workshop August 17th. They will study common themes gleaned from surveys, focus groups, etc, and prioritize to create new plan. Dawkins will be able to report back to committee during the September meeting. Chairman Brault will attend the November meeting. 8. Additional business a. Calendar review- Next meeting September 18th. Town Hall meeting will be set after new Strategic Plan is announced. b. New Communications Coordinator- Chairman Brault requested that at some point after the “initiation period,” Kevin Stahr would address SPAC. c. Website-SPAC will finally have a page on the city website that goes live in mid August. Information can be filtered through city staff to publish. d. Chairman Brault requested the minutes be made available to members as quickly as possible so that any follow up to initiatives, questions, etc, can be immediate. 9. Adjournment-Motion to adjourn -Walsma; second-Lingham. Unanimous to adjourn at 8:36.