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The Albemarle City Council last Monday night formally adopted the city’s first Strategic Plan that will help guide the city, and its many departments, in the years to come.

“What we are excited to present tonight is something that pulls together everything the city has been doing and is doing into one comprehensive plan,” City Manager Michael Ferris said. “That will benefit staff, city council, provide focus for the future and it will also provide something in one comprehensive document that we can share with the public to let them know what are the priories of the city.”

The 12-page document, the culmination of two years’ worth of work sessions and leadership meetings for city staff along with the implementation of a community survey to gather feedback from the public, outlines Albemarle’s goals and objectives for fiscal years 2023-2026. Each year the budget process will be developed to align with the goals and objectives laid out in the Strategic Plan.

“A lot of this has to do about what’s important to us,” Ferris said. “They can be just daily activities, smaller projects, initiatives, the way we do business.”

The Strategic Plan includes five goals and corresponding strategies to achieve each goal for the next three fiscal years. The goals are multi-departmental and can be achieved in many different ways while the strategies can last many years and can relate to specific actions of one department or many.

• Organizational Capacity – Invest in workforce to enhance city operations and efficiency to better serve the community.

1. Fund additional resources and services to support anticipated growth.
2. Develop ongoing feedback and evaluation processes that incentivize continuous improvement and providing excellent levels of service.
3. Provide ongoing training and development to all staff.

• Safety & Security – Enhance resources and improve practices to protect residents and safeguard the city in order to improve quality of life.

1. Develop public safety and preparedness plan.
2. Review resources, policies and guideline for accountability.
3. Utilize data and technology to increase effective and efficient service delivery.

• Infrastructure – Invest in infrastructure needed to ensure reliable and consistent service delivery.

1. Plan for and fund infrastructure resilience.
2. Fund community infrastructure at sufficient levels.
3. Streamline and modify systems and policies to improve service levels.
4. Invest in technology and equipment to improve service delivery.

• Community & Economic Growth Opportunities – Guide growth and facilitate economic opportunities in order to benefit all residents and businesses.

1. Anticipate new growth and educate residents, business owners, staff and elected officials on the importance of structured, well-planned growth.
2. Ensure Albemarle has a wide range of housing options for everyone.
3. Diversify community and economic investments.
4. Prioritize Downtown revitalization and beautification.
5. Improve workforce training.

• Inclusive Community Engagement – Enhance community amenities, programs and services to engage residents of different backgrounds, lifestyles and generations.

1. Cultivate effective community relationships and communication.
2. Plan for inclusive services, programs and amenities to enhance the diversity of our community.
3. Develop or enhance partnerships with private and nonprofit organizations to leverage combined resources for our community.
4. Develop opportunities for continuous feedback from the community.

The plan is beneficial to all employees because it provides a clear roadmap for city staff, letting them know “the boundaries for what we should be doing and how we should be going about some of these things,” Ferris said.

To make sure the city is making progress to accomplishing its intended goals, departments will keep track of their progress (such as collecting data on established impact measures) and share successes with Ferris. Departments will report updates to Ferris each month and he will provide quarterly reports to council.

Also included in the Strategic Plan is the city’s vision, mission statement and core values.