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Home My WebLink About2016-17 Strategic Plan resolutionFebruary 24, 2016 Page 2 City Council Identified Projects, Programs, Policies, and Initiatives: Promote a Strong and Resilient Local Economy • Identify how the City and local partners can effectively market and grow the local foods economy • Review and consider amending the City's Tax Increment Finance (TIF) policy • Promote neighborhood commercial districts and build stronger relations with business owners throughout the community • Work closely with the University of Iowa and Kirkwood Community College on future facilities and economic development opportunities, especially in the Riverfront Crossings District • Work closely with the ICCSD, Kirkwood Community College, labor organizations, Iowa Works and others to explore the feasibility of an industrial arts/crafts facility in Iowa City • Proactively seek opportunities to facilitate development of our interstate entryways in a manner consistent with this strategic plan • Develop programs aimed to enhance small business development and retention with a focus on diverse communities Encourage a Vibrant and Walkable Urban Core • Consider creating a new City Council committee with a focus on the sustainable built environment • Support historic preservation efforts • Initiate public dialogue about the meaning and importance of a walkable neighborhood and how to achieve it • Encourage diverse housing types and price points for a variety of income levels Foster Healthy Neighborhoods throughout the City • Consider amending the City's Annexation Policy to require the provision of affordable housing in residential/mixed-use areas • Evaluate the implementation of a Form Based Code in one or two parts of the community • Develop strategies to diversify the membership of neighborhood associations • Substantially improve access and use of public spaces through improvements to sidewalks, streetscapes, parks, and schools Maintain a Solid Financial Foundation • Continue to monitor the impact of the 2013 property tax reform and evaluate alternative revenue sources as determined necessary • Continue to build the City's Emergency Fund • Monitor potential changes to Moody's rating criteria and maintain the City's Aaa bond rating • Continue to reduce the City's property tax levy • Maintain healthy fund balances throughout the City's diverse operations Enhance Community Engagement and Intergovernmental Relations • Provide timely and appropriate input on the ICCSD's planned 2017 bond referendum • Televise regular City Council work sessions • Significantly improve the Council and Staff's ability to engage with diverse populations on complex or controversial topics Promote Environmental Sustainability February 24, 2016 Page 3 • Raise Iowa City's Bicycle Friendly Community status from Silver to Gold by 2017 and aspire toward a Platinum status in the future • Evaluate and consider implementation of a plastic bag policy • Undertake a project in FY 2017 that achieves a significant measurable carbon emission reduction • Set a substantive and achievable goal for reducing city-wide carbon emissions by 2030, and create an ad-hoc climate change task force, potentially under an umbrella STAR Communities committee, to devise a cost-effective strategy for achieving the goal • Collaborate with community partners on sustainability efforts Advance Social Justice and Racial Equity • Develop and implement a racial/ socioeconomic equity review toolkit • Support the Housing First initiative and other local homeless efforts including the temporary winter shelter • Consider creating a City Council committee with a focus on social justice and racial equity • Evaluate initiatives to effectively engage the community's youth • Identify and Implement an achievable goal to reduce disproportionality in arrests • Create a racial equity grant program • Develop a partnership with the University of Iowa and other key stakeholders that will aid efforts to recruit and retain a greater minority workforce • Identify a substantive and achievable goal for the provision of affordable housing in Iowa City and implement strategies to achieve this goal Recommendation: A resolution formally adopting City Council's strategic plan priorities as worded at the February 16, 2016 Council work session is on the March 1, 2016 agenda for Council's consideration. Staff will continue to provide status update reports to Council for review approximately every four months, as with previous strategic plans. Prepared by: lan Korpel, Management Intern, 410 E. Washington St., Iowa City, lA 52240 (319) 356-5059 RESOLUTION NO. ____ _ RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING CITY OF IOWA CITY STRATEGIC PLANNING PRIORITIES WHEREAS, The Iowa City City Council seeks to ensure that all City services are provided in the most equitable, effective, and efficient manner possible; and WHEREAS, The Iowa City City Council strives to set policies that best reflect the preferences of Iowa City's residents, are in the City's long-term interests, and help to foster the city and local governance that our residents desire; and WHEREAS, The City Council members have undertaken a strategic planning process to identify, prioritize, and articulate this policy direction. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Iowa City City Council hereby outlines its top priorities and related new initiatives generated during the strategic planning process which are to be incorporated into specific action plans by the City staff. TOP PRIORITIES: This Strategic Plan intends to foster a more Inclusive, Just and Sustainable /ov.ta City 1. Promote a Strong and Resilient Local Economy 2. Encourage a Vibrant and Walkable Urban Core 3. Foster Healthy Neighborhoods throughout the City 4. Maintain a Solid Financial Foundation 5. Enhance Community Engagement and Intergovernmental Relations 6. Promote Environmental Sustainability 7. Advance Social Justice and Racial Equity City Council Identified Projects, Programs, Policies, and Initiatives: Promote a Strong and Resilient Local Economy • Identify how the City and local partners can effectively market and grow the local foods economy • Review and consider amending the City's Tax Increment Finance (TIF) policy • Promote neighborhood commercial districts and build stronger relations with business owners throughout the community • Work closely with the University of Iowa and Kirkwood Community College on future facilities and economic development opportunities, especially in the Riverfront Crossings District • Work closely with the ICCSD, Kirkwood Community College, labor organizations, Iowa Works and others to explore the feasibility of an industrial arts/crafts facility in Iowa City • Proactively seek opportunities to facilitate development of our interstate entryways in a manner consistent with this strategic plan • Develop programs aimed to enhance small business development and retention with a focus on diverse communities Encourage a Vibrant and Walkable Urban Core • Consider creating a new City Council committee with a focus on the sustainable built environment • Support historic preservation efforts • Initiate public dialogue about the meaning and importance of a walkable neighborhood and how to achieve it • Encourage diverse housing types and price points for a variety of income levels Foster Healthy Neighborhoods throughout the Citv • Consider amending the City's Annexation Policy to require the provision of affordable housing in residential/mixed-use areas • Evaluate the implementation of a Form Based Code in one or two parts of the community • Develop strategies to diversify the membership of neighborhood associations • Substantially improve access and use of public spaces through improvements to sidewalks, streetscapes, parks, and schools Maintain a Solid Financial Foundation • Continue to monitor the impact of the 2013 property tax reform and evaluate alternative revenue sources as determined necessary • Continue to build the City's Emergency Fund • ~-~onitor potential changes to ~-~cody's rating criteria and maintain the City's Aaa bond rating • Continue to reduce the City's property tax levy • Maintain healthy fund balances throughout the City's diverse operations Enhance Communitv Engagement and Intergovernmental Relations • Provide timely and appropriate input on the ICCSD's planned 2017 bond referendum • Televise regular City Council work sessions • Significantly improve the Council and Staff's ability to engage with diverse populations on complex or controversial topics Promote Environmental Sustainability • Raise Iowa City's Bicycle Friendly Community status from Silver to Gold by 2017 and aspire toward a Platinum status in the future • Evaluate and consider implementation of a plastic bag policy • Undertake a project in FY 2017 that achieves a significant measurable carbon emission reduction • Set a substantive and achievable goal for reducing city-wide carbon emissions by 2030, and create an ad-hoc climate change task force, potentially under an umbrella STAR Communities committee, to devise a cost-effective strategy for achieving the goal • Collaborate with community partners on sustainability efforts