01.09.12 CC WS Meeting MinCITY OF SHOREWOOD
CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION
MONDAY, JANUARY 9, 2012
MINUTES
CONVENE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION
5755 COUNTRY CLUB ROAD
COUNCIL CHAMBERS
6:00 P.M.
Mayor Lizee called the meeting to order at 6:30 P.M.
A. Roll Call
Present. Mayor Lizee; Councilmembers Hotvet, Siakel, Woodruff and Zerby; Administrator Heck;
Finance Director DeJong; Director of Public Works Brown; and Engineer Landim
Absent: None
B. Review Agenda
Zerby moved, Hotvet seconded, approving the agenda as presented. Motion passed 510.
2. STRATEGIC PLANNING
Administrator Heck noted that during his annual performance review process Council asked him to revive
the strategic planning process started in 2011. He explained that during February 2011 Council and staff
met twice to initiate the strategic planning process. A consultant, Sharon Klumpp, guided those two
meetings and provided a report summarizing the results. Council and staff met a few times after that to
build upon the February discussions. That process was temporarily suspended so the City could conduct a
resident survey. Heck stated the final report was received and the consultant will present the report to
Council during its February 13, 2012, work session.
Heck explained that the purpose of this work session is to revive this process. Tonight he will: provide
Council and staff a brief review on strategic planning; explain the definitions used during the process;
review and recommit Council's and staff's roles in the process; and, review and agree to commit to and
abide by the rules of the process.
Heck then explained strategic planning is a means to identifying a desired change and setting a course of
action for managing the implications of that change.
Heck reviewed and explained some strategic planning definitions. They are as follows.
➢ Goals — broad, general statements that encompass a subset of the City's mission. Because goals
are broad and general they do not have specific measures. Goals are achieved over a long -term
period (e.g. 10 — 15 years), or they could be achieved in about 5 years or less. Example: Enhance
the safety, attractiveness, aesthetics, and health of Shorewood.
➢ Objectives — they add specificity to the concepts identified in a goal. They are shorter term and
measurable by quantity, percentage, completion date of a project, and so forth. Example: Add 3
miles of trail to the trail system by the end of 2014.
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January 9, 2012
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➢ Tactics — they specify the action steps necessary to achieve an objective, and they are the most
detailed portion of the plan. Council is not involved at this tactical level. Example: Hold
community meetings in areas where trail segments are planned.
Heck noted to be successful with this process; Council and staff have to remember what their roles are. He
reviewed the roles and responsibilities. They are as follows.
➢ Council — the Mayor and Council are responsible for establishing the goals. They operate at the
40,000 foot level. They need to keep asking themselves things such as: where they want the City to
be in a certain number of years; what they want the City to look like in a certain number of years;
and, what they want the City to represent. They need to set the strategic direction for the City and
remain focused on this high level.
➢ City Administrator — the City Administrator's role is to facilitate Council's discussion in
developing the goals. The Administrator acts as a liaison between Council and staff. He is also
responsible for facilitating with staff the development of the objectives and tactics, and ensuring
implementation of the plan.
➢ Staff — staff is responsible for working with Council and the City Administrator in the development
of the goals. It is also responsible for providing information needed by the Mayor and Council in
setting the goals. Staff's key responsibility is to implement and carry out the plan by developing
and completing the tactics and objectives and keeping the Administrator and council informed of
progress and roadblocks.
Heck reviewed what he termed the "rules of the game."
➢ All participants need to respect each other. They should not interrupt each other. Because opinions
will vary, they should respectfully "agree to disagree" when necessary. They should ask for
clarification when necessary. This is a collaborative process that will involve all Councilmembers
and staff.
➢ Participants should make a concerted effort to be open to new ideas. The process will include a lot
of brainstorming. Criticism of others or their ideas is prohibited.
➢ Participants need to commit to being involved in the process and to let the process happen. The
strategic planning process is an ongoing process. Participants need to allow the process to flow
naturally and organically.
➢ Participants should make an effort to create an atmosphere that fosters an open and honest
exchange of ideas.
Heck noted that strategic planning is not a one -time effort. It is a continuing process of planning,
implementing, measuring, evaluating and revising. The planning process involves a number of steps in
upcoming strategic planning work sessions. Some of them are as follows.
➢ Review and refine the City's mission statement.
➢ Review and refine, if necessary, the core values of the City developed in February 2011. Each staff
person's performance evaluation form includes core values.
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January 9, 2012
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➢ Review and refine the internal and external factors impacting the City as identified in February
2011.
➢ Review and refine the City's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats as developed in
February 2011.
➢ As part of this process, aspects and components of the resident survey will be incorporated.
Heck noted that portions of the strategic plan will be incorporated into priority driven budgeting process for
2013.
Heck reviewed the objectives of the first few strategic planning work sessions.
➢ January 23, 2012, work session 1 — Council will review the City's SWOT assessment and revise it
as necessary. Council will be provided with a detailed list of City provided programs and services
to review and refine.
➢ February 13, 2012, work session — National Research Center (NRC), the organization that
conducted the resident survey, will provide Council with the results of the survey. The presentation
is intended to take 30 — 45 minutes with a question and answer period following. Park and
Planning commissioners have been invited to this session.
➢ March 12, 2012, work session — Council and staff will begin to identify goals. They should tie into
the City's mission statement and incorporate key components of the resident survey.
➢ April 15, 2012, work session — continue with identifying goals until 5 — 7 goals have been
identified and agreed upon. As goals are agreed upon, staff can begin to establish objectives and
tactics for them.
Heck explained it is difficult to outline work sessions beyond that because that will depend on progress
made. Once goals have been identified, Staff can develop objectives and tactics. Staff will keep Council
informed of its progress. During the 2013 budget process, Council and staff will work to ensure adequate
resources are allocated to accomplish the priorities for 2013. He reiterated that Council needs to focus on
the high level items; not objectives and tactics. He noted the meeting packet contains a copy of the report
prepared my Ms. Klumpp.
Councilmember Woodruff suggested inviting the Park and Planning Commissioners as well as the
representatives to Minnetonka Community Education, the Lake Minnetonka Communications Commission
and the Lake Minnetonka Conservation District to the February 13, 2012, work session to hear the NRC's
report on the resident survey results. He stated strategic planning takes a lot of work; it takes discipline and
focus. He expressed his commitment to trying to keep to the agenda during the strategic planning work
sessions. He then expressed his commitment to Administrator Heck of allowing Heck to be in charge of this
process.
Councilmember Hotvet concurred that it is Administrator Heck's role to take the leadership role with
Council and staff in this strategic planning initiative. She asked if there would be an opportunity to involve
residents during the first four work sessions or to at least invite them to hear the survey results. She stated
resident involvement needs to be built into the timeline.
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January 9, 2012
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Councilmember Zerby recommended the City's website contain as much information about this strategic
planning process as possible. There could be link to information on the process, similar to what the South
Lake Minnetonka Police Department did during its 2012 budget process. He noted one of the methods
residents use to get City information is the City's website. The survey could be posted there as could
minutes of strategic planning work sessions. Resident input could also be solicited from there.
Councilmember Hotvet commented she thought that is a good idea.
Mayor Lizee stated she likes the timeline that has been established. She expressed her agreement with
Administrator Heck being the leader for this process. She stated input can be provided to residents through
the newsletter and the City's website. She noted all work sessions are recorded and can be accessed on
Mediacom Cable television or the Lake Minnetonka Communications Commission (LMCC) website. She
stated that after the second or third work session, Council and staff will be able to decide if topics have
been identified that warrant calling a community meeting.
Councilmember Hotvet stated she assumes the strategic plan will be reviewed, measured, and updated on a
yearly basis. Administrator Heck concurred that the plan is a living document.
Councilmember Woodruff stated in addition to the survey results being posted on the City's website, he
would like there to be a link to the LMCC video recording of the February 13, 2012 work session when the
survey results will be presented. He suggested that maybe the LMCC could run the recording of that work
session a few extra times on cable television.
Councilmember Zerby stated the survey results indicate that, in order of frequency of use, residents get
City information from the City's newsletter, word of mouth, the Sun Sailor Newspaper, and then the City's
website. According to those results, 70 percent never watch recordings of City meetings on cable television.
Mayor Lizee asked Councilmembers to keep the copy of material provided this evening for its next work
session on strategic planning. She stated she is curious to hear about the results of the survey. She asked
how many surveys were returned. Administrator Heck stated NRC sent out over 1,300 surveys.
Approximately 615 were returned for a 47 percent response rate.
3. ADJOURN
Woodruff moved, Siakel seconded, Adjourning the City Council Work Session of January 9, 2012, at
6:47 P.M. Motion passed 510.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED
Christine Freeman, Recorder
ATTEST Christine Lizee, Mayor
Brian Heck, City Administrator /Clerk