Hardee County commissioners endorse moving forward with strategic-plan workshops, staff to schedule interagency meetings

Hardee County commissioners met in workshop on Jan. 28, 2025, to review the county's fiscal-year 2023'2024 strategic plan and agreed by consensus to move forward with readopting the plan as written and scheduling focused follow-up workshops and interagency meetings to prioritize implementation.

The discussion, led by Jennifer Coder Salisbury of the Central Florida Regional Planning Council and Mary Beth Soderstrom of the Heartland Regional Transportation Planning Organization, covered housing, economic development, land use and infrastructure, broadband, education and workforce, health care, recreation and government services. Commissioners and staff repeatedly urged the next steps be prioritized and translated into short-, mid- and long-term departmental actions tied to budgeting.

"The goal of the strategic action plan is to really provide an enduring living document for elected officials, decision making bodies, and the community to review and access on a regular basis," Jennifer Coder Salisbury said as she reviewed the plan's mission, vision and core values. Mary Beth Soderstrom joined on transportation- and resiliency-related work already under way in the Heartland region.

County staff described specific implementation efforts taken in the past year that aligned with the plan. "This is your overarching plan and yes, you probably want to get down into it a little bit deeper with some kind of specific long term, mid term, short term goals," County staff (presented in the meeting as Mr. Atchley) said, noting staff had tied several budget items to the plan and that work had begun on a utilities master plan and a development overlay to guide where infrastructure is extended.

Commissioners repeatedly returned to housing and economic development as near-term priorities. Commissioners discussed targeting housing for retirees (55+) and small-house or tiny-home developments in designated subdivisions, while others emphasized a mixed housing strategy so the tax base can support services. Commissioners also highlighted the Torrey community area and the county's recent extension of water and sewer along Bolster Road as an example of directing infrastructure to areas where housing and RV developments are already occurring.

Broadband and workforce connections were discussed as essential to economic diversification. Staff noted Hardee County participated in prior last-mile broadband efforts and that continued collaboration with the county's IDA and electric cooperatives would be needed to expand fiber. Commissioners and staff also discussed Starlink and other non-fiber options as stopgaps but emphasized that businesses generally require hardwired fiber service.

Public services and environmental issues surfaced in the workshop. Staff and commissioners raised the county's reliance on Mosaic for regional wastewater disposal and noted regulatory and planning work will be needed going forward; staff said new environmental discharge requirements would place growing pressure on existing arrangements. Public-health communication was illustrated by last year's dengue cases and the county's efforts to coordinate messaging with the Florida Department of Health.

At the close of the workshop the county manager asked for direction on next steps. Commissioners voiced agreement on a two-part approach: (1) readopt the plan as the board's guiding document at a future meeting and (2) direct staff to convene targeted workshops and meetings with partner agencies (including the IDA/development group, Heartland Regional partners, the library system, school/college partners and utility providers) to develop prioritized, actionable short-, mid- and long-term objectives tied to budgeting and department work plans.

The board did not take a formal recorded vote; members indicated consensus to proceed with the approach described above and to schedule follow-up workshops by the March meeting cycle. Staff was directed to return with more detailed implementation steps, budget ties and timelines for prioritized objectives.