Library Board Meeting Date: February 14th, 2023
To: Board Members
From: Jake Reilly, Community Development Director
Title
Provide Input for 2045 Comprehensive Plan.
Body
Action Requested:
Discussion/Information Only.
Summary Report:
The Library Board is being asked for input for the 2045 Comprehensive Plan. This report serves as both an update to board and commission members on the status of the 2045-horizon Comprehensive Plan and an activity designed to engage local leaders in Northfield to ensure an inclusive and innovative community engagement process for the 2045 Comprehensive Plan. The questions are designed to understand priorities and values of these leaders to develop a community vision and guiding principles for the Comprehensive Plan.
Background
The Comprehensive Plan process officially kicked off with an event at Greenvale Elementary School on October 28, 2023. Early engagement events took place during the summer months preceding that event in order to take advantage of the weather and many seasonal events during those months.
The Mayor and Council appointed a representative Steering Committee to guide the process in the fall of 2023 and the first Steering Committee meeting was held on Monday, December 18th in the second-floor training room at City Hall. Meeting materials used at that meeting are included as attachments to this report (1).
City staff and the consultant team are holding conversations with boards and commissions during standing meetings. The presentation and exercise for the February 14, 2024 Library Board meeting is representative of the approach for those sessions and aligns with the approach taken with internal staff groups, boards/commissions and others.
Progress Update:
The consultant team from NEOO and Stantec, along with several City staff, have completed the “Discovery” phase of the planning process. The Discovery Phase was designed to gather relevant information from existing planning documents, Census Bureau and State of Minnesota demographic data, and through pop-up engagement activities at standing events held throughout late spring, summer, and early fall. The “Vision” phase is now underway and takes advantage of the engagement completed before the end of the year to craft a draft vision and guiding values document. The Vision phase will extend through March 2024 in order to account for additional engagement opportunities, including those with this group and each board and/or commission with interest. Additional engagement with an expanded set of community groups will allow the consultant team to “test” the vision and guiding values with stakeholders and ensure alignment with the broader community values. The attached Monthly Comprehensive Plan Update (2) has additional detailed information from the consultant team. The January update is attached to this report. Update timing is associated with the Planning Commission meeting schedule, and may be delayed to other boards or commissions.
After a brief overview of comprehensive planning, Staff will lead the members of the Library Board through an exercise based on the attached, “Stakeholder Interview guide” (3). Please review the guide prior to the meeting and be prepared for a lively, staff-facilitated discussion on an appropriate subset of discussion questions derived from the guide, in consultation with the planning commission. As the comprehensive planning team works through the visioning phase and concurrent engagement Staff will provide monthly updates to each board and commission similar to the attached. Additional information is available on the city’s Comprehensive Plan webpage (4).
If there are specific questions or concerns about the process, the monthly update, or other Comprehensive Planning issues, please do not hesitate to contact Jake Reilly, Community Development Director at jake.reilly@northfieldmn.gov 507-649-7018.
Alternative Options:
N/A
Financial Impacts:
N/A
Tentative Timelines:
• Spring - Fall 2023 - Discovery Phase: Consultant team begins engagement activities R
• October 28, 2023 - Community Kick-off event R
• December 18, 2023 - First Steering Committee meeting held R
• December 20, 2023 - Northfield Youth on Boards/Mayor’s Youth Council R
• January - March 2024 - Vision phase: Staff/consultant team meets with other boards/commissions for structured/facilitated conversations about desired outcomes of 2045-horizon comprehensive plan.
o Tentative draft schedule (to date):
§ January 17, 2024 - Northfield Area Transportation Advisory Committee & Environmental Quality Commission R
§ January 29, 2024 - Housing and Redevelopment Authority R
§ February 5, 2024 - Parks and Recreation Advisory Board R
§ February 7, 2024 - Heritage Preservation commission R
§ February 14, 2024 - Library Board
§ February 26, 2024 - Economic Development Authority
§ February 28, 2024 - Human Rights Commission
• February 28, 2024 - Second Steering Committee meeting
• January through April 2024 - Analysis Phase
• April through July 2024 - Plan Phase
• December 2024 - Adoption of final document