City Of Milton: Strategic Plan Outlining Values, Goals, Objectives OK'd By Council

Press release from the City of Milton:

03/15/2021 8:36 PM

After offering effusive praise, Council members on Monday approved the Milton’s next Strategic Plan – a critical document laying out the City government’s vision, values, goals, objectives, and ways to measure its efficacy over the next five years.

The 2021-2025 Strategic Plan approved on Monday can be viewed by clicking HERE.

This Plan came about after extensive engagement with elected officials, City staff, and stakeholders representing various groups and communities in Milton. In place of traditional in-person events, the project team instead connected with the general public in multiple ways such as a survey completed by about 175 people, an “Idea Wall” where people elaborate on what the City should focus on, Zoom town hall-events, and interactive Facebook posts.

Taking into account that feedback and the Council’s direction, the Plan features three “strategic priorities” or frameworks for what the City government should focus on. They are:

• Ensure Milton’s Sustainability and Resiliency: The City will provide nation-leading sustainability and resiliency that is fostered by an engaged government focused on community partnerships, creative funding methods, and deliberate efficiency.
• Continue Smart Land Planning to Keep Milton Unique: The City will commit to smart development throughout the city, identifying areas for specific growth and incorporating design elements that reflect Milton’s unique character, rural charm, and equestrian lifestyle.
• Acquire, Manage, and Develop Public Land and Resources to Support Milton’s High Quality of Life: The City will offer plentiful quality recreational opportunities that support a uniquely Milton sense of place and community while treasuring the hundreds of acres of beautiful, City-owned nature preserves that contribute to Milton’s “small town feel.”

For each priority, City staff took the lead in determining the “current state” – in other words, what Milton is like now – and “future state” – or what it aims to be over the coming years. As Michelle Kennedy, the City’s consultant from BerryDunn noted, the Plan sought to address “what do (citizens) expect from our City government.”

The priorities were viewed broadly. For example, “sustainability and resiliency” related to a sensible, conservative financial strategy; ensuring safety and security for residents; having a representative, steady City workforce; and preserving natural spaces around Milton. They were accompanied by goals, which in turn were flanked with objectives and outcome measures “trying to measure the actual impact” of City initiatives, said Kennedy.

Kennedy extolled the City of Milton for tackling its Strategic Plan creation as a “meaningful process” rather than a “check-the-box exercise.”

“This plan is a living document that you can continue to revisit through the life of the Plan … to know where you need to make investments,” she told the Council. “It serves as a decision-making tool. It serves as a way of you being transparent to the public about what you are doing.”

City Manager Steve Krokoff pledged quarterly check-ins with Council (that would be made available to the public) on the Strategic Plan’s progress. Council members then lauded the report from how it came together, to its well-reasoned presentation, to the visually compelling, easy-to-follow layout of the finished product.

Council member Paul Moore, for example, praised “the way that (Milton’s Strategic Plan process) was transparent and engaging and so inclusive. I really appreciate the way we went about it.”

The Strategic Plan was then approved unanimously without changes.

This all came after an invocation from Rabbi Hirshy Minkowicz, from the Chabad of North Fulton, in which he reflected on the trying past 12 months for many because of COVID-19 and how the future appear to be “brighter” as vaccines come online.

The City Council then approved all 12 items on the night’s Consent Agenda (without discussion, as is customary), including:

• A contract for Allied Paving Contractors to resurface roads around Milton
• A contract with Southern Environmental Services to demolish Fire Station 42 on Thompson Road (so a new Station 42 can be built on the same site)
• Agreements to continue the City’s Parks and Recreation program partnerships with the Milton Mustangs swim team and Hopewell baseball
• A Task Order for Pond and Company to do preliminary engineering on the Big Creek Greenway Connection Trail project
• The subdivision of a 23.024-acre property near the intersection of Thompson Road and Hopewell Road into two tracts

This and the Strategic Plan presentation were followed by the consideration of the final plat for what is being called The Grove at Sweetapple subdivision in Milton’s southwest corner. With the Council’s approval Monday, nine single-family lots will be spread across 9.71 acres that includes a pond and what City Land Development Manager Tracie Wildes referred to as a single rural entryway road.

Fire Chief Gabe Benmoussa then asked the Council to approve – which they did – Milton’s application for a special Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant. Specifically, the City will seek funding for a high-pressure breathing “cascade” system for the soon-to-be-rebuilt Fire Station 42 as well as an extractor and dryer to remove toxins from firefighters’ turnout gear (which is what they wear during a fire).

Then came something that has become routine – an Emergency Ordinance related to the COVID-19 pandemic – with a twist. Similar measures have been presented and approved monthly since March 2020, in part to facilitate the City’s access to intra-government emergency funding as well as to address related community needs within its purview.

For months, the latter has included a provision allowing businesses to put out reasonable temporary signage without going through the City’s normal permitting process. It has also had a measure giving certain restaurants permission to offer to-go beer and wine sales. But neither of those were part of the amended Emergency Ordinance considered, and approved, on Monday.

As Economic Development Manager Sarah LaDart explained, this does not mean neither practices can continue. Rather, businesses seeking temporary signage will just need to go through the City again. And recent changes to Chapter 4, the part of the City Code on alcohol-related business, gives qualified restaurants the option of selling to-go beer and wine already, only via a different process.

The new Emergency Ordinance will take effect April 8 and extend 30 days.

The last two items on Monday night’s agenda related to alcohol beverage license requests. One is for the Exxon Foodmart on Morris and Webb Road, which is in the process of transferring ownership. The other is for a new business to be called the Milton Package Store in the Target/Dollar Tree/Petco complex on Highway 9. Both requests were approved.

The Council will take a longer than usual time between meetings due to the traditional Spring Break holiday. It is next set to convene the evening of April 12.

This press release was produced by the City of Milton. The views expressed here are the author’s own.