Little Elm staff outline 2025 lookahead covering strategic plan, parks, utilities and staffing

Matt Mueller, a town staff member, gave a 2025 “lookahead” briefing at the Jan. 21 Little Elm Town Council meeting that covered the council’s calendar, a strategic-plan update and a wide range of capital and operational projects the town expects to pursue this year.

Mueller said the town has started a major strategic-plan update — the largest reset since the plan adopted in 2013 — with focus groups already held, a community survey scheduled to close in February and a council briefing set for July. He described a council retreat planned for August and a target to present a final draft for consideration “hopefully in October or November” so the plan will meet the charter’s two-year renewal requirement.

The presentation covered parks and lakefront work, including Cottonwood Park (expected in spring), continued work on Little Elm Park (camping, a pedestrian bridge to the amphitheater and new restrooms pending Corps of Engineers approvals), lakefront entry monuments targeted for spring 2025, and other park improvements such as Marion Field lights and McChord Park drainage repairs. Mueller described an ongoing concept study to expand the animal shelter with additional office and kennel space.

On utilities, Mueller said the town is part of a customer group negotiating a new long-term contract template with the North Texas Municipal Water District and is preparing to bring a contract update to council later in the year. He summarized several water and wastewater projects: Westside water system improvements (design ~60% complete, construction targeted to finish by end of 2026), Mansell pump station piping improvements and a ground storage tank rehabilitation that he said is already under construction and expected to finish by March. Mueller said the town awarded a SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) upgrade to Prime Con; he estimated the SCADA upgrade at about $1,500,000 with a target completion in July.

Mueller also described a roughly $2,000,000 manhole-replacement project in the Winfield Farm area that has been under way to address recent failures, and a west-side emergency interconnect design with Mustang Special Utility District to provide mutual aid if one system fails. He noted the town’s transition to a new utility billing platform (Munis) and said credit-card autopay will need to be re-entered by customers after the conversion; the town paused credit-card payments briefly but had restored them by the meeting.

Budget and staffing items included a move toward zero-based budgeting for 2025 and rollout of a cost-allocation program; Mueller said the town is implementing new budget software to support that reset. He described expanded employee training — monthly leadership training, supervisor boot camp, a formal mentorship program, Little Elm University for new employees and other culture/recognition activities — and reiterated that the town views its workforce as a core asset.

Mueller also reviewed planning and transportation priorities: ongoing 380-corridor and lakefront studies to inform the strategic plan; an impact-fee study in early 2025; several major road and intersection projects in coordination with county partners (King Road, Hill Lane, the Fishtrap corridor, and the El Dorado/Oak Grove Parkway intersection); and an annual street-maintenance program tied to a pending sales-tax renewal in May.

The briefing was informational; no formal council action was recorded on the 2025 lookahead at the meeting.

Ending: Mueller closed by inviting council questions and noting staff will update the council throughout the year on progress and upcoming agenda items.