Strategic planning development for township
By Dana Casadei
Over a nearly four and a half hour long workshop-like meeting on Monday, August 12, the Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees worked with prompts from BerryDunn to come up with everything from potential mission statements for the township, to strategic goals and priorities for their next five-year strategic plan.
There were constant themes throughout their discussion from the start, where they began by focusing on a mission statement that included continuing to provide great services to the township and making the area a great place to live, being forward thinking, and ultimately, a premier community where people aspire to not only raise their kids but grow up too.
The consultants then discussed different vision statements, which were described as where does the board want Bloomfield Township to go over the next five years, what do they want to improve, get rid of, or keep the same. Much like their mission statement exercise, it all really came down to providing good government to their residents, a continued theme in their values exercise, priorities and strategic goals as well.
This could really be seen when discussing strategic goals, and the final six goals they came up with were to be a welcoming community, which focuses on embracing all people within Bloomfield Township, bringing them together; public safety; a nature focus that protects and preserves green spaces with a continued effort on maintain lakes and lake health; being best of class and quick to adjust, become a regional leader not only in innovation but by being fiscally sound; providing a vibrant quality of life for residents more through development of recreation strategy and things to do, and a newfound focus on providing activities for all ages; preserving the community’s character, especially keeping the large lots in the area, and enforcing their zoning ordinances; and resilient infrastructure, where they will continue to invest in infrastructure, top-notch technology, stormwater events, and working with utility partners to think more proactively.
“All of these things happen with a workforce that’s talented and engaged,” said trustee Chris Kolinski.
Many of the themes trustees discussed and brought into different aspects of the strategic plan discussion also went hand-in-hand with the data BerryDunn presented during the beginning of the meeting, data they had collected through an environmental scan, community forums, social media, and a Strategic Plan ETC Community Survey.
The environmental scan allowed for BerryDunn to identify potential opportunities and would allow everyone to get involved in the strategic plan, from residents to trustees. It also utilized data from sources such as AARP and the census bureau to figure out the township’s livability index, which is currently at 44. BerryDunn said part of the reason their score is so low was because of all the large lots in Bloomfield Township. The township did quite well in some areas, including clean air and water, which scored a 66.
Then there was the data provided directly by community members, who had a lot to say about Bloomfield Township, especially on the social pinpoint site.
That site alone have over 2,000 visits, over 1,400 unique users, 92 hard comments, and 572 survey responses. Residents were able to comment on different aspects of the township, with quality of life, environment and public safety being some of the most frequently cited.
Within those surveys, BerryDunn found that many had confidence that the township would be a better place to live in the next five years, and for those who question a low star rating, their comments about why they did so centered on Bloomfield Township’s lack of parks, a need for more family-friendly activities, high taxes and utility rates, and worry that they won’t be able to keep the high standard of living or keep their crime rate low.
As far as what should be prioritized in the next five-year strategic plan, maintaining public safety was number one, and also something that residents considered that the government already does well. When it came to things that could be improved, there was a focus around the quality of infrastructure and facilities, maintaining bike areas, and a need for more recreation programs and facilities, the latter of which was also a big concern.
Despite some of the challenges and weakness addressed by residents, only 18 percent thought that Bloomfield Township wasn’t welcoming to diverse identifies, backgrounds and experiences.
BerryDunn also presented an analysis of the township, breaking down their findings into four categories: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges, known as SWOC. It’s an analysis they do so everyone can better understand the township’s current position before figuring out new strategies to implement moving forward. There weren’t any surprises from the SWOC results, which looked very similar to all of the themes and analysis that had already been presented.
Monday night’s meeting was part of the end of phase two of the project, which kicked off this past April and will be completed, ideally, sometime this October. In August, BerryDunn held two plan development sessions on August 12 and 13, including the one held with the board, and another on Tuesday, August 13, with Bloomfield Township staff.
The latter group’s goals are to really refine the board’s initial work and give the priorities objectives, specific outcomes, and performance measures, seeking an answer to what success will look like in five years within each of those priorities the board came up with.
From there, BerryDunn will lead more virtual sessions with department leaders and key staff to continue to develop the outcomes of the five-year strategic plan. Then, they’ll have a first draft and bring that to the board of trustees during another work session.
At the end of the meeting, Kennedy asked the board if they had any kind of critiques about the process of creating a strategic plan with BerryDunn thus far. Multiple board members expressed a desire for a meeting like this to be spread out over two meetings instead, allowing for time to be less rushed.
During the three community forums BerryDunn held with residents in the township over 100 people showed up, a much higher number than anyone was anticipating. The community came out in droves to let their thoughts be known online too, through the Strategic Plan ETC Community Survey and social media.
Seeing that level of engagement online caused the trustees to bring up the idea for more community engagement with the strategic plan than was currently being worked on, something that BerryDunn agreed with.
BerryDunn is now planning to put the strategic plan on the township’s social pinpoint, where residents will be able to take a closer look and gain a clearer understanding of what the board and BerryDunn are working towards.