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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 09/30/1997 - Workshop APPROVED NHNUTES STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT/VISION 2001 COUNCIL/STAFF WORKSHOP TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1997 7:30 p.m. CITY CENTER Heritage Room IV 8080 Mitchell Road COUNCILMEMBERS: Mayor Jean Harris, Councilmembers Sherry Butcher-Younghans, Ronald Case, Ross Thorfirmson Jr., and Nancy Tyra-Lukens CITY STAFF: City Manager Carl Jullie, Assistant City Manager Chris Enger, Director of Human Resources and Community Services Natalie Swaggert,John Connolly,Police Department, Director of Public Works Eugene Dietz, and Council Recorder Barbara Anderson I. CALL MEETING TO ORDER Mayor Harris called the meeting to order at 7:45 p.m. H. FINALIZE CITY VISION STATEMENT Mayor Harris commented they would review the vision statement developed at the last strategic planning meeting in terms of how we are meeting our goals. Eden Prairie is a vibrant City characterized by the thoughtful integration of natural beauty with physical development, respect for the past, planning for the future and delivery of public services. Value statements have been adopted and now they need to be integrated into the vision statement. This will be put onto the Consent Calendar which will be adopted at the next City Council meeting. These will reflect the attitude of the present City Council and they will be sent out to all the Boards and Commissions. III. DISCUSSION OF VISION 2001 PROCESS The focus areas of the Vision 2001 Process were discussed. These included economic development,technological access to City services and community services,transportation, public safety,health and social services, emergency service areas, environmental and open spaces, and leisure services. Mayor Harris reviewed the time lines established for this process and noted that we have met all these goals. They will have a consultant come in to work with us to help us address the resident needs and desires. It is important to have input from the business community as well as the residents. Enger stated we have been working hard on getting the representative process in the strategic management planning process. These include using the tools for quality management that they have put together to create a process whereby this can be achieved. Input from public meetings and community surveys and forums will be utilized towards this goal. We intend to analyze focus areas for trends,prioritize these, and analyze systems that are in place. He discussed the planning process that would be used to put the pieces in place to create a working model of the strategies they believe will be useful in implementing the goals outlined by the Council. The community foram will be done with the help of Bill Morris of CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION September 30, 1997 Page 2 Decisions Resources, Ltd., who will do the demographic information and conduct and analyze the survey data. They will have a session in November with Dr.George Karvel,from the University of St.Thomas,Bill Morris,and the Mayor,Council and staff to give this select group a vision of the year 2001. Enger reviewed the plan for this session and how it would be conducted. Bill Morris can train the staff and Councilmembers to facilitate the focus groups at an upcoming work session. Swaggert stated they are trying to get everyone to think forward 5-10 years to get the citizens to leave with a greater understanding of City vision,values, and changed needs and community resources. City leaders will gain input from a representative sample of community leaders. One of the things that they expect to have happen is that the focus groups would come back and report on what they discovered and that will be added by Bill Morris at the end of the meeting so they don't have to come back to people with a summery later on. - Tyra-Lukens stated the School District gave feedback to the participants after the meeting they held and it was very helpful. It should be done before this information is released to the public in the newspaper. Participants should have some feedback from us regarding the outcomes. Thorfinnson concurred with Tyra-Lukens. Enger stated he would continue to inform these people of the progress as it proceeds,noting we will need to continue to use them as we go along. Case noted we should plan to send out about five newsletters which could be sent out over the next few years to keep these people informed of what is going on within the community. This information would then be dispersed throughout the community at large by these key people who get the newsletter. Discussion ensued regarding the levels at which this information is disseminated. Enger commented perhaps they could alternate community surveys with community forums. This is an evolving process which will be developed as they go along. The City Council was comfortable with this scenario and ready to move forward with the process as outlined by staff. Swaggert stated staff proposes to hold the first meeting on a Saturday in November,possibly the 15th,as Bill Morns is available on that date. It will be put on the Consent Calendar. The session would run from 9:00 a.m. to Noon. The Council discussed the focus areas and concurred that these were the eight areas that worked best. Discussion ensued regarding facilitating the focus groups and how they would be conducted. Staff will ask for volunteers for each of the groups and handle it that way. Butcher-Younghans has been working with the Chamber of Commerce top get their meeting set up,and they propose to meet on Thursday,November 20th at the Olympic Hills Golf lug in the morning to discuss the goals they outlined earlier. This will be good to identify issues that the business community has had with the City. They also want to identify City staff and Council so they know who to contact if they need to. We would like to send out a survey beforehand to identify issues they would like to have addressed at this meeting. It will also serve as a way to kick off this vision 2001 and be a celebration that they have chosen Eden Prairie as the place in which they located their businesses. CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION September 30, 1997 Page 3 Butcher-Younghans commented they are doing a program format that will allow for discussion of important topics which could include City information that is relevant to them. This is to tie the City and Business communities together. Swaggert commented it would help to have information regarding how many people use the Internet and computers as it's becoming the way to send out information. Discussion ensued regarding ways of communication via E-mail and using the Internet. This will be in place before 2001. If they do a paper mailing it should be put into the Chamber of Commerce newsletter as an insert. IV. STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT SUCCESSION PLANNING Discussion ensued regarding succession planning on the part of the City Council and Staff, which has resulted in policies being in place which are beneficial and enhance the City's ability to make decisions and establish policies to make Eden Prairie a better place to live and work for everyone. Mayor Harris commented that top management needs to have the right people in the right place at the right time to lead the organization. She reviewed the primary objectives for top management to assure readiness to meet the communities needs. Jullie presented a reorganization plan to the City Council four years ago. One of the major outcomes was the appointment of Chris Enger as the Assistant City Manager and the departments were reorganized to provide more efficient and effective operations for the City. He wanted to ensure that there would be a smooth transition when he left the City and this was a way to ensure that would happen. He requested the City Council think about the transition and work with staff to have this process follow through with these plans for the future. Promotion from within an organization is not uncommon and it is an effective and efficient way to make the City organization the best it can be. Discussion ensued regarding the thought process and the characteristics they would like to see in a City Manager. The Council would work to reinforce any area where strengthening was desirable. This process needs to begin as soon as possible in 1997,with Phase 1 being the preliminary planning,Phase II being 97-98 Strategic Management Planning, and Phase III occurring in 1999 with the new leadership transition and implementation. Discussion ensued regarding the transition and succession for the Assistant City Manager position which would need to be filled. Swaggert stated it was included in the budget and the consultant has a long history with the City. This process will cost the City less than $1,000. Mayor Harris reviewed the history of the planning process beginning in 1994 and continuing through 1997,with the projected plans coming to fi-uiti.on in 1998 and 1999. She noted that the City should plan some sort of celebration at the completion of the decade and requested staff and Council to think about how to accomplish this. The dates for the meetings will be set at the next Council meeting for November 15 for the City and November 20 for the Chamber of Commerce. V. OTHER BUSINESS IV. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Harris adjourned the meeting at 9:00 p.m.