2011 Strategic Plan Revision

**DRAFT PROPOSAL ADOPTED BY PLANNING COMMITTEE 5/10/10 and recommended to CITY COUNCIL**

Purpose and Need

This is a proposal to revise the Gustavus Strategic Plan, tentatively by the end of 2011. The 2011 Revised Gustavus Strategic Plan will present a vision of Gustavus in 2030, with attention to public functions and the facilities that serve them, and will establish a "road map" for moving towards that vision with due consideration for a full range of issues and concerns.

Why Revise?

The revision is needed to help answer the many questions that keep coming up regarding Gustavus facilities and how they are to be used, now that we have a city government. The 2005 Strategic Plan was not designed to answer questions like these:

• The city offices need a bathroom. Should we remodel City Hall (and if so in what way) or should it be relocated to another facility?
• The state has offered to build a ferry terminal that could be used by the city provided the city operates and maintains it. Should the city accept or reject the offer or negotiate changes (and if so what changes should be sought)?
• A third party has offered to donate a building or land to the city. Should the city accept and if so how should that facility be managed?
• A group of citizens has asked to use city land for a community garden. Should this be allowed and if so under what conditions?
• The city is entitled to select a certain amount of state land for public and charitable purposes. Which of the available parcels should be selected?
• Should the public portions of the Gustavus waterfront be managed, and if so how?

The revision will result in a plan that answers these questions by setting forth what public functions will be served, what facilities will serve them, and what actions are needed to for that to happen.

What Revisions?

The specific changes proposed for the strategic plan are these:

• Part I, Community Description:
• • Only minor updates to reflect community changes since the original plan was written.
• Part II, Values and Vision:
• • No anticipated change to value and vision statement.
    
  • Add a detailed vision of Gustavus in 2030 including projected population and public functions to be delivered, sort of a concise future community description.
• Part II, Value to Vision to Goals to Projects:
• • Move projects from this section to a new Part IV. Goals will be reviewed and open to comment but may not change much or at all from the ones established in 2011.
    
• New Part III, Public Facilities
• • Create this new section consisting of public functions and facilities as envisioned in 2030. This provides detail to the description of Gustavus in 2030 including specific buildings, places, and what functions they will serve.
• New Part IV, Action Plan
• • This new section is a list of objectives and projects and it replaces the projects section from the current strategic plan. It sets forth a roadmap for moving from Gustavus in 2011 to the Gustavus envisioned in 2030.

Gustavus 2030 Vision

The original 2005 Gustavus Strategic Plan does an exemplary job of describing the community at that point in time, of establishing shared community values, visions, and goals, and of setting forth a prioritized list of projects to further those goals. The vision, however, is sufficiently vague that it is of limited use in guiding the city council when new opportunities, questions, or needs arise. While it provides general criteria by which individual proposals may be judged it is of no help in sorting out the complex many-to-many relationships between a multitude of public functions and potential public facilities to deliver them. Additional planning is needed to establish

• A vision of the community of Gustavus in 2030, including the population and the public functions that will be delivered to them; and
• The public facilities that will deliver the public functions; and
• An updated short-term prioritized project list of "next steps" to move towards that vision.

Public Functions

For purposes of this plan, a function is a purpose, role, activity, or use, and a public function is a function intended for the general public. In an effort to coordinate the delivery of functions by multiple government, non-profit, and private entities the 2011 Revised Gustavus Strategic Plan will consider a wide range of public functions whether or not they are to be delivered by the City of Gustavus (or at all). The concept of a public function may be illustrated by a few examples:

• Energy - electrical, heating, transportation
  
• Transportation - surface, marine, air
• Recreation and amusement - sports, walking, wildlife viewing, indoor and outdoor public events
• Communication - telephone, radio, Internet
• Health and safety - medical services, fire protection, search and rescue, law enforcement
• Education - classes and activities for youths and adults, access to libraries of information
  
• Environmental quality - waste reuse, disposal, recycling, sanitation (i.e. public restrooms)
  
• Government - offices, meetings, storage
  

This list is by no means exhaustive; it will be developed as part of the planning process.

Issues

Issues are concerns or factors to be considered with regard to facility siting, selection, design, or operation. The 2011 Revised Gustavus Strategic Plan will develop a list of issues and will consider them when mapping functions to facilities in order to make the best match. Examples of issues include but are by no means limited to:

• Cost, both capital and recurring
• Convenience
• Impact on neighbors
• Environmental impacts such as on air and water quality
• Congruence with overall values and vision
  

• Impacts on quality of life

• • Scenery
  • Privacy
  • Quiet
  • Rural character
  • Coexistence with wildlife
  • Dark night sky
• Site control and other legalities 

Public Facilities

Public facilities are buildings or places that provide one or more public functions. They may be owned and operated by any government, non-profit, or private entity. Even though a public facility such as the clinic may be neither owned nor operated by the City of Gustavus, it will be considered in this plan to reduce duplication and maximize cooperation and efficiency. In addition to current public facilities, the plan will enumerate potential public facilities whether or not they already exist. Facilities are complex because each may serve more than one function, functions may be served by more than one facility, and multiple options exist for many facilities. The 2011 Revised Gustavus Strategic Plan will optimally map functions to facilities, considering the full range of issues and concerns identified during public scoping. The Plan will also provide justification for funding requests and a starting point for site- and facility-specific project planning.

Following are examples of public facilities which currently provide, or could provide, public functions listed above:

• Energy - Falls Creek hydroelectric project, generator plant, bulk fuel storage facility, Gustavus Dray, Gustavus Propane, Bartlett Cove generator and fuel facilities, Gustavus marine fuel dispensing facility
• Transportation - City, park, and state-maintained roads, Gustavus and Bartlett Cove docks, Gustavus airport, public parking areas
• Recreation - The Nature Conservancy lands, Dude Creek Critical Habitat Area, Glacier Bay National Park, Salmon River and Bailey Parks, community center
• Communication - ACS and Alascom towers and equipment huts, KTOO repeater, fire department radio system, Falls Creek communication tower, Gustavus Community Network
• Health and safety - Gustavus community clinic, Tong Fire Hall, Bartlett Cove ranger offices, TSA offices
• Education - Gustavus school, Gustavus Public Library
• Waste management - Community Chest, DRC, restroom at dock or beach
• Government - City Hall, Ferry Terminal, Tong Fire Hall

Procedure

The current 2005 Strategic Plan recommends the following procedure for changing the plan:

"The City Planning Committee will accumulate a list of potential plan alterations submitted by the public, the various City committees and the Council, and from time to time advise the City Council on the advisability of action to open the present plan to reconsideration. The City Council will review this advice and direct the Committee appropriately. If the decision is to open the plan, the Council will direct the Committee to do so under one of three scenarios, depending on the magnitude of proposed changes.

1. Amendment: For minor proposed changes that, in aggregate, do not significantly alter the plan’s intent, scope or priorities.

   Proposed amendments will be reviewed by the Committee. The Committee’s draft review will be presented at a general meeting and on the City website for public comment. Then the Committee will make a presentation to the Council for their consideration and action.

2. Revision: For major proposed changes that, in aggregate: a) alter, restrict or broaden the plan’s goals; b) significantly shift plan priorities; &/or c) require consideration of major projects not evaluated within the scope of the present plan.

   Proposed revisions will be presented at a general meeting. Resulting advice will be reviewed by the committee and then presented to the public in the form of a written community survey. Results of the survey will be evaluated by the Committee and presented to the Council for their consideration and action."

Given that the 2011 changes may consider major projects not envisioned in 2005, and that the scope is being increased to cover public facility planning, this proposal should be considered a revision to the Strategic Plan.

Planning phase

1. Planning committee passes motion to adopt this proposal.
2. City Council passes motion to direct planning committee to proceed with plan revision in accordance with this proposal (as amended if needed). This corresponds to "the Council will direct the Committee to do so..."

Scoping phase

1. The Planning Committee fleshes out the future vision expressed in the Strategic Plan to the extent needed for effective facility planning. For example, what will the Gustavus population be in 2030? What else can we say about Gustavus in 2030 that will help us predict what public functions will be considered necessary and appropriate by then? A detailed vision of Gustavus in 2030 would read like a concise version of the community description in Part 1.
   
2. The Planning Committee brainstorms lists of public functions, public facilities, and issues. Use the Strategic Plan and 3-year review as starting points. Consult with DCCED regarding data model.
3. Gather public input on the planning process, the vision of Gustavus in 2030, and the lists of public functions, public facilities, issues, and projects. Conduct at least one public hearing and mail and/or online survey. Consult with DCCED regarding methodology.
   

Preparation phase

1. Compile public input in database.
2. Analyze data and develop various scenarios mapping functions to facilities.
3. Draft plan with one or more visions and sets of facilities.
4. Additional round of public input on the draft plan at the public hearing when it is considered for adoption by the city council (corresponds to "proposed revisions will be presented at a general meeting."
5. Revise draft plan based on public and council feedback if needed.
6. Repeat steps 4 and (if needed) 5 until a final revised plan is adopted by City Council.