Newcastle Community Activities Commission approves 2025 work plan, will present to City Council Jan. 21

The Newcastle Community Activities Commission on Jan. 8 approved its strategic work plan for 2025 and agreed to present the plan to City Council at a special joint meeting scheduled for Jan. 21.

The vote was unanimous. A commissioner moved to approve the document “as our strict work plan for 2025,” the motion was seconded, and commissioners voted seven to nothing in favor. The commission selected Commissioner Kim to present the plan to council; Chair Nathan Sticks said she will notify the mayor that she will not be able to attend the Jan. 21 meeting.

The plan sets the commission’s strategic directions for the year and was revised in the meeting to reintegrate parks- and trails-related responsibilities into the commission’s stated duties. Commissioners discussed wording changes (for example, replacing “connect” with “collaborate with the City”) and asked staff to store the final document in the commission’s SharePoint folder. Amy (staff) noted the presentation can be added to the council packet as late as the Friday before the meeting and offered to share last year’s PowerPoint template to speed preparation.

Commissioners agreed the January schedule is tight but manageable. The presentation approach agreed on is a concise slide set that highlights the three strategic directions, with one or two visuals or brief recaps per direction rather than a slide-by-slide reading of every bullet point. Kim accepted the role of presenter and requested support from staff to assemble images and a short narrative for each direction.

Next steps: staff will finalize the slide deck, place materials in the commission meeting folder, and the commission will present to City Council on Jan. 21. The commission recorded the motion and vote as approved (7–0).