Strategic Plan meeting set Feb. 21 in Moscow
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County Mayor Rhea "Skip" Taylor said last week that, when the county commission completed the budget process last fall, its intention was to prepare a Strategic Plan listing all the things that need to be purchased during the next several years.
Noting that "nothing ever got any legs," Taylor said he has prepared a guide to a Strategic Plan. He has asked the directors of county departments to list what they need for five, 10 and 20 years."Of course, 20 years is more fairyland out there," he acknowledged, "but it gives you an idea where you're going. I put it together in a document and gave it to them, and we've got two dates set up right now."
The county mayor made the comments Thursday afternoon during the regular monthly meeting of the Fayette County Joint Economic and Community Development Board at Somerville City Hall. With Taylor as its chairman, the board is composed of the mayors of the county's nine municipalities.
In addition to the Moscow event, he said a public meeting on the Strategic Plan is also scheduled at 6 p.m. Feb. 7 in Oakland City Hall. Meetings in Gallaway, Piperton and Somerville are tentatively planned for March.
Taylor told the JECD Board members that he envisions giving a copy of the Strategic Plan to anyone who requests it. He will also distribute a "very simple survey" along with a list of five or six categories, such as education, fire, emergency management and parks, and ask the residents to rank them in the order of their desired priorities.
Noting that, to set up a plan, the county must know some direction it is proceeding in, Piperton Mayor Buck Chambers asked if it could prepare a priority or checklist of a city plan, including such things as schools and roads.
"You've got to start it off to get it rolling," he said. "So, I think you're going to have to be suggestive in some areas."
Taylor said he has proposed the plan as suggestive. Normally, when a Strategic Plan is prepared, he said everyone is brought together in the same room, and they determine what they want to do.
"But with a county, I've got to sort of tell them what we need, and then throw mud at it," he said. "Then, if there are things that maybe we think we need, but maybe folks out there would like a little bit higher priority on other things, let them put their input in."
In response to a question by Chambers, Taylor said he has not yet scheduled any work sessions with the commission, because he initially wants to receive public input. At the public meetings, he plans to distribute the survey, give a presentation lasting from 45 minutes to an hour and then allow the residents to comment on what they want to do.
Acknowledging that the commission might not like the residents' list of priorities, Taylor said he will also distribute a list of its members. If there is something that the residents "really want to see the county do," they can telephone their commissioners.
Chambers asked whether Taylor will appoint a Strategic Planning Board including one resident from each municipality to have work sessions to implement the priorities. The county mayor said he must first "sell" the commission on the idea.
When Chambers noted that a "variation of mind-sets" is needed to make it work, Taylor said that "may well be" the best way to handle it.
"Some of the commissioners are very involved," he acknowledged. "Others just show up at the meetings."
Because many of the commissioners probably "have all on their plates that they can handle," Chambers suggested that Taylor select one member to serve as spokesman for the commission. The county mayor agreed.
"Half of what's in my Strategic Plan will probably get done at some point, because I've already got it budgeted," he said. "I'm working toward that goal now. Some of it's over and above."
When Chambers asked how he can budget if he does not know what he needs, Taylor replied that he knows where he needs to go.
"If you haven't got a plan, you can't grow," Chambers said. "And the county needs the same plan that the cities have. I'm glad you're doing that."
Taylor said the only part of the plan that the commission cannot address is the Land-Use Plan, which the planning commission must prepare. He noted that it was originally devised in the early 1980s.
"It was good for its time, and the basic structure is still good now," he said. "But it needs to be updated with a little bit more insight."
Acknowledging that the process does not necessarily have to be completed in March, Taylor said some public meetings could be scheduled in April. He told the JECD Board members that he is "open" to any suggestions they have.
In response to a question by LaGrange Mayor Bill Cowan, Taylor said the Strategic Plan focuses primarily on county services, because that is all he can get the commission to "buy into." But he said the cities need to know about what the county adopts as a plan.
"And likewise, we need to know what you are doing," he noted. "We don't need to be at cross-purposes. We need to be working together."
