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Lake Forest staff report year‑one progress on five‑year strategic plan
Summary
City departments presented a wide set of year‑one achievements tied to the council‑adopted strategic plan, highlighting grants, capital projects, public safety initiatives, community engagement and fiscal stewardship.
City staff on Oct. 20 gave a year‑one update on the City of Lake Forest’s five‑year strategic plan, reporting progress across finance, public works, public safety, parks and community engagement.
City Manager Jason Wietjoff framed the presentation by reminding the council that the plan is a five‑year document and that the report was intended to demonstrate how day‑to‑day decisions align with council goals. “I will just remind the council before I turn it over to staff that is year 1 of a 5 year strategic plan,” Wietjoff said.
Katie Skibbe, director of finance, highlighted fiscal achievements including more than $100,000 in annual recycling processing fee savings; a projected $360,000 annual savings from moving staff health insurance into a risk‑pooled program with the Intergovernmental Personnel Benefit Cooperative; and grant awards supporting water main replacement ($3.68 million), a bike path repaving project and police department equipment and retention programs.
Public Works Director Michael Thomas reported on completed storm‑sewer work and upcoming intersection improvements at Wesley and Waukegan funded by grants, the rollout of a multi‑year water‑meter replacement program and a new work‑order system for operational tracking. Deputy fire chief and police staff described joint training, school safety exercises, an electronic patient care reporting system (ImageTrend) and a police comfort dog program to support mental‑health responses.
Parks and recreation reported increased program participation this year, including a 3.5% rise in summer program registrations (about 2,700 registrants), a record Dickinson Hall membership approaching 1,100 and growth in youth football and cheer programs. The city also opened the Forest Park Beach Pathway and is near completion of a beach playground.
Community development reported nearly 3,949 building permits processed in the last 12 months and 88 petitions to boards and commissions, and described ongoing nuisance enforcement and a parking evaluation for the central business district. Communications staff said the city redesigned the website and expanded the recreation program guide to improve accessibility, and noted thousands of engagements via surveys and meetings over the year.
Ending: Managers said they will provide an annual update going forward and that many goals are multi‑year efforts connected to capital planning and budgeting.
