Posted on June 6, 2012 at 10:58 AM by Sarah Clendineng
Three years ago, the City Council got together for a goal setting session and came to consensus on a number of goals for the city staff to work on over the next few years. Here we are three years later and we went through a similar process. In January and February 2012, City Staff, the Mayor and City Council met and discussed accomplishments and goals for the future. Following is a summarized list of the many things that have been accomplished over the past few years:
- Financial commitment to Main Street for the next 3 years
- Maintained balanced budget while lowering city property tax levy every year since 2009
- Improved City General Fund reserves balance
- Reorganization and remodeling of City Hall
- Opening of new water treatment plant
- Approving $500,000 for RecPlex project
- Committed 3 years of funding for Main Street group
- Completed Phase I of Emergency Training Facility
- Completed and adopted Annexation study
After a discussion of all accomplishments, the group looked to the future for further goals. It was a good opportunity for the Mayor, City Council, and City Staff to also think about the issues and opportunities that they each saw in the future for the City of Fort Madison. After all of that discussion, the following four items came to the top of the priorities for the future:
- Use grants (if possible) or other financial incentives (3-year URTEDs) to entice construction of new homes on “newly” empty lots
- Merge departments/department heads
- Reorganize city government to make the mayor a voting member of the city council
- City control of ground around the by-pass interchanges via annexation or extraterritorial zoning or both
These priorities will now be worked on by city staff and implemented along with a series of organizational objectives and ongoing goals. Watch over the next few months as the City takes steps to accomplish the goals and priorities of the Mayor and City Council. The Council will be reviewing these on a quarterly basis to monitor progress.