Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Strategic Planning topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Experts urge three‑year strategic plan; Dell Rapids board weighs consultant costs
Summary
A guest presenter urged a three‑year strategic plan and suggested trustees set broad direction while staff handles tactics. The Dell Rapids board discussed whether to hire a consultant (estimated around $10,000 in past local work) or craft a plan in‑house given volunteer time constraints.
Felton Thomas, introduced by Nicole Davies, told the board that strategic planning provides a clear roadmap and prevents organizations from being pulled in multiple directions. "If you don't have a set direction, if you're not going down this path, you could get pulled off on many different ways," Thomas said, and recommended a three‑year planning cycle as a practical cadence.
Thomas described trustees' role as setting higher‑level direction and using simple dashboards to monitor progress; he also said outside consultants can bring objectivity. Board members and the director discussed costs and time commitments; the board cited a previous community planning engagement around $10,000 and noted that volunteer time is a limiting factor for a locally led process.
The director said the state library has resources and a local contact (Cheyenne) who has helped other libraries; she offered to research consultant options and estimated timing would likely push any full strategic plan to later this year or early next year because policy updates are currently prioritized.
Board members expressed interest in exploring options rather than committing to a contract immediately, and some volunteered to support preparatory work such as surveys and outreach if the board decides to proceed.
