Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Retreat Priorities topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Consultants present four priority areas after Lafayette council retreat
Summary
Facilitators from the Ottawa Group briefed Lafayette council on retreat outcomes, proposing four priorities — affordability, economic vitality, sustainability/resilience and community engagement — and next steps to map existing plans to those priorities.
City facilitators reported to the Lafayette City Council on March 24 on outcomes from a recent two‑day council retreat, presenting proposed priorities and next steps for implementation.
Sarah Miller of the Ottawa Group, joined by city staff, summarized the retreat’s purpose: strengthen council working agreements, create a shared view of ongoing city work, and identify strategic priorities that the council could pursue over a two‑ to four‑year horizon. Miller said the facilitators observed strong ambition from new members, a desire to close loops on projects, and information gaps staff and council can address.
The consultants proposed four priority areas for the council’s focus: affordability (broadly defined to include wages and childcare as well as housing), economic vitality (including downtown and small‑business support), sustainability and resilience (drought, wildfire, heat and utilities), and engagement and communications (with an equity lens). Staff then cross‑walked those priorities against existing plans and programs — for example, the economic development and housing strategic plan, the multimodal transportation plan, the climate action plan, and the Old Town Tomorrow strategy — and identified work‑plan items that already align with the priorities.
Councilors and staff discussed how to measure progress and the cadence of reporting. Staff said departments will return with periodic updates — economic development in June, sustainability in May — and that the work plan dashboard will be updated to highlight items that map to the council’s chosen priorities.
Council members emphasized implementation and accountability: some asked for regular progress reports on items that already exist in the work plan, while others pressed for clarity on how the council’s priorities intersect with baseline city services. Staff and consultants recommended that the council formalize working agreements, consider communication norms, and revisit priorities at future retreats or regular intervals.
The session ended with an outline of next steps—refining working agreements, aligning the work plan dashboard with priorities, and scheduling topic‑specific presentations for the months ahead.
