Subject:
Title
8:45 p.m. - 9:15 p.m. Strategic Plan: Potential Adoption
Body
DATE(S) OF PRIOR COUNCIL CONSIDERATION OF THIS ISSUE:
The Town Council has discussed updating the Town of Vienna’s Strategic Plan at a series of work sessions and meetings beginning in 2024. The dates have been:
• Jan. 22, 2024
• March 7, 2024
• April 5, 2024
• Feb. 10, 2025
• March 10, 2025
• Aug. 25, 2025
• Sept. 8, 2025
EXPLANATION AND SUMMARY:
Background
In early 2024, the Vienna Town Council indicated its desire to review and potentially update the Strategic Plan, the last version of which was approved in 2019 for a 5-year window. After working with a consultant and then in a series of work sessions with staff, the Town Council indicated general support for the draft but asked that input be solicited from boards and commissions. The Town Manager and the Director of Planning and Zoning, with the assistance of the relevant other departments, solicited this input. All input was included in the packet for the Sept. 8, 2025, Town Council meeting.
Context for the Strategic Plan
As a reminder, the Strategic Plan occupies a medium-term position among the vision and strategy documents that the Town Council reviews and approves. Such documents include:
Ø Comprehensive Plan - Required by State and with the longest planning horizon of 20+ years, though required to be reviewed for potential updating every five years. The Comprehensive Plan covers the physical development and land preservation of the town, in topics that include land use, transportation, the environment, parks, economic development, and community facilities. It does not include operational matters.
Ø Strategic Plan - Adopted by Town Council for a period of 2-4 years (to be determined by the Town Council). It has the widest vision in that it covers physical development and such operational matters as human resources, financial stability, safety, and other matters not covered in the Comprehensive Plan. Staff recommends that the Town Council review the document biennially to determine whether it represents a clear statement of the Council’s priorities.
Ø Annual Priorities - Adopted by Town Council in the beginning of each of the past two years, with the purpose of providing focus areas for staff and the Town Council for that calendar year. In the ideal, these priorities should be drawn from longer-term visions within the Strategic Plan and Comprehensive Plan. If these annual priorities are not consistent with those other documents, it may indicate a need to update the longer-term documents.
Ø Operating and Capital Budgets - Updated annually, though the capital budget has a longer-term planning horizon. The documents should be consistent with both the Strategic Plan and Comprehensive Plan.
Ø Special-topic plans (Parks Master Plan, Economic Development Strategy, Annex property, multi-modal plan, etc.) - Conducted and adopted as the Town Council sees fit. These plans should be consistent with the Strategic Plan and Comprehensive Plan, but also may result, through the focus on the special topic, in a need to revise the longer-term vision and broader documents.
OVERVIEW:
Attached to this report are (Attachment 1) a red-line version of an updated Strategic Plan draft, and (Attachment 2) a clean version of that same draft.
Attachment 1 (red line) includes:
1) All changes indicated in the draft presented on Sept. 8, 2025, no longer in red line.
2) All changes clearly supported by the Town Council on Sept. 8, and tracked changes for this document, shown in redline.
3) Four issues raised by Town Council that staff deems still need Town Council decision. These issues are supported by column comments that raise the questions for Council to address. The four issues are in Strategies 1.g., 2.c., 3.g., and 4.c.
Attachment 2 (clean) includes no red lines or comments.
Staff suggests that the best way to complete the document would be to focus on these four areas first and then determine whether any additional changes should be made.
Follow-Up to Adoption of the Strategic Plan
With adoption of the Strategic Plan by the Town Council, staff will move forward with three implementation steps to the Strategic Plan.
1) Staff will develop an attractive layout for the document.
2) Staff will elaborate on the Goals and Strategies adopted by the Town Council with action steps. Some of the steps will be items that the Town is already implementing or that are completely within the scope of staff work. Others may be reflected in future budget proposals or new management initiatives.
3) The adopted Strategic Plan will be brought before the new Town Council, sometime in calendar year 2026, to ensure that the document still reflects the vision for the Town. Staff proposes that each new Town Council get an opportunity to review the document for continued relevance. The fact that the document is much shorter than the prior Strategic Plan will make reviewing much simpler.
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the Town Council review the updated Strategic Plan document (Attachment 1) and make final decisions regarding certain questions. If the Town Council is prepared to do so, staff recommends that the Council vote to adopt the document, either as presented in Attachment 2 or as amended during this discussion.
Board or Commission of Interest:
Planning Commission, Windover Heights Board of Review, Board of Architectural Review, Conservation and Sustainability Commission, Transportation Safety Commission, and Town Business Liaison Committee.
Departmental Recommendation:
The Department of Planning and Zoning recommends the Town Council:
1) Review the four key outstanding questions and reach final decisions about those items.
2) Direct any further changes to be made.
3) Adopt the updated Strategic Plan as presented or with edits.
Town Attorney Recommendation: The Town Council may consider adopting, amending, or deferring adoption of the proposed Strategic Plan in its discretion. The adoption of the Strategic Plan does not authorize any expenditure of funds or award any contracts, and any such action would require formal approval.
Town Manager's Recommendation: I recommend the Town Council adopt the Strategic Plan, as presented.
PROPOSED/SUGGESTED MOTION
Recommended Action
"I move to adopt the Strategic Plan as presented and direct staff to prepare an attractive layout for the document."
Or
“I move to adopt the Strategic Plan, as amended during this discussion, and direct staff to prepare an attractive layout for the document.”
Or
Other action deemed necessary by Council.