Commission discusses strategic-plan kickoff, public input and schedule for special called meetings

The Collegedale City Commission discussed plans for a special called meeting this week to begin work on a strategic plan and debated sequencing of initial vendor-led work versus broader public input.

Why it matters: Commissioners said they want robust community engagement—town halls, neighborhood associations and business outreach—but also want to hear from a vendor on best practices for structuring a strategic plan.

Vice Mayor Sadler and other commissioners asked that the commission solicit public input before finalizing a request-for-proposals or project scope for a vendor. One commissioner suggested the commission first “come up with survey questions that we want to put out first to get some input from the citizens” and then follow with town halls and educational outreach so residents feel included.

Staff described the planned vendor session as an initial, limited engagement: a SWOT analysis and mission-statement exercise intended to inform a later, months-long process of public input, town halls and charrettes. “This was just a starting point to get a good vendor online and know where the commission's head was at,” a staff member said, adding the timeline was intended to parallel the budget process.

Commissioners agreed the Thursday vendor session could proceed but urged more advance notice and expanded community outreach afterward. Staff said the only short-term actionable outputs from the Thursday session would be short items to feed into Monday’s capital-expenditure workshop; the larger strategic-plan development would follow with more extensive public engagement.