Cedar Rapids City Director Jennifer Pratt on Tuesday outlined the City Council's seven priorities for the coming year and described how staff will track progress. The presentation was given at the Sept. 9 council meeting in City Hall.

Pratt told the council the priorities are intended to align with the Envision CR comprehensive plan and to guide the city manager and executive team in allocating limited resources. "These aren't the only things that we will be doing at the city, but they are priorities that we want to highlight," she said.

The presentation listed flood control system work, housing options and affordability, neighborhood stabilization, recreational and cultural amenities, homelessness response, clean and safe operations and business-friendly efforts. Pratt cited recent accomplishments including groundbreaking work tied to data center development, opening of the Twelfth Avenue pump station, the McLeod Run naturalization project, trail and road projects and riverfront activation steps such as the Cedar Rapids sign and Alliant Energy Light Line groundbreakings.

Pratt said staff will publish quarterly reports showing accomplishments that support council priorities and that each council agenda item includes a cover-sheet note identifying which priority it advances. "Tracking these for FY '25, we found nearly 670 council action items that support these priorities," she said.

During the presentation Pratt highlighted homelessness work including a coordinated street outreach team, and a landlord-tenant success initiative funded by Cedar Rapids Bank and Trust that has housed more than 20 people and enrolled 54 landlords. On recreational and cultural amenities she pointed to Cedar Lake improvements and new, free-to-use amenities intended to serve all ages and abilities. Pratt said public art maintenance and accreditation efforts also remain priorities.

Pratt framed the priorities as interdependent, saying, for example, that recreational and cultural amenities help attract and retain workforce and support a business-friendly environment. She closed by reiterating the quarterly reporting commitment and returned the meeting to the mayor.

The council did not take formal action on the priorities at the meeting; the presentation served as the council's annual priorities report and as a directive to staff to continue quarterly public reporting.