Henry County updates draft 2045 strategic plan after four-month community engagement

Consultants presented Henry County commissioners with a draft of the county's 2045 strategic plan and a summary of four months of community engagement that produced 1,076 survey responses, more than 110 individual interviews, six in-person public meetings and roughly 90 meeting attendees, the presenter said.

The presentation, led by consultant Hannah Lee of KLSA, summarized outreach conducted March through June and connected public input to seven strategic goals developed earlier in the year, including fostering well-being and safety, building modern infrastructure and strengthening public trust. "The purpose of our discussion today is threefold," Lee told the board, summarizing the update, the engagement results and the draft objectives the consultants propose.

The consultants said the most frequent concerns reported by residents were traffic congestion and transportation options, followed by infrastructure and government transparency. Respondents also identified parks and recreation, attracting new business and public safety among the county's strengths. Community priorities for the future ranked high-quality infrastructure and transportation, well-being and public safety, and environmental sustainability and green space among the top choices.

County staff and commissioners highlighted several recurring themes from interviews and public meetings: planned development and ensuring that infrastructure and services keep pace with growth; broadening community engagement; affordable housing and healthcare access; and civic education to clarify which decisions local government controls. Lee said the technical advisory committee and county staff synthesized the input into strategic objectives and aligned metrics, and that those objectives were designed to be adaptable to external changes such as technological shifts.

Commissioners used the discussion period to press for clearer public communication about how government decisions are made and which authorities control particular services. "I would like to see us focus more on the communication piece," Commissioner Price said, explaining that residents sometimes do not understand the difference between county authority, city authority and state-level limits such as the Georgia Constitution and Dillon's Rule.

Other commissioners reiterated the need to explain funding and project timelines. Several referenced SPLOST and related state and federal funding streams as essential to delivering infrastructure and public safety projects; they said the public would benefit from clearer explanations of how those funding programs work and why multi-year timelines are required. "You've done such a good job with this. I think you've addressed everything I have," Commissioner Wilson told the presenters when asked whether commissioners had outstanding issues.

The consultants provided a draft schedule for finishing the plan: an initial plan draft to be prepared by August, a public comment and internal feedback period through September, and a target for board adoption in October with implementation beginning in 2026. Lee said metrics and KPIs had been drafted by the technical advisory committee and could be provided to the board on request. No formal votes or motions were taken during the workshop.

Next steps identified during the meeting include integrating commissioner feedback into the draft plan, continuing technical and departmental alignment on objectives and metrics, and developing communication and civic-education actions to clarify roles, responsibilities and funding sources for residents. Commissioners also raised interest in a county-level youth engagement initiative and additional joint meetings with municipal partners to coordinate infrastructure and service delivery across jurisdictional lines.

The consultants and staff closed by thanking the technical advisory committee and county staff for their engagement in the process; the board reserved time in coming weeks to review the full draft and related KPIs prior to the planned adoption timeline.