CASPER, Wyo. — On Monday, the Casper City Council held a strategic planning session at the Ford Wyoming Center to establish a new set of council goals to help guide decision-making over the next two years.
The strategic planning session, facilitated by Cheyenne-based The Align Team, culminated in the Casper City Council establishing three broad goals: livability, sustainability and community engagement.
Each of the broad goals will act as an umbrella with a number of more specific objectives outlined underneath. One of the objectives under the “livability” goal, for instance, calls for efforts to improve public safety. That could include completing renovation of the Casper Business Center to become the new Casper Police Department headquarters; finding a solution to inadequacies at the Metro Animal Shelter; determining how to utilize OneWyo Opioid Settlement funding; and determining how to address issues relating to homelessness in the community, per the council’s conversation on Monday.
Sustainability refers to things like long-term facilities maintenance planning, financial sustainability or environmental initiatives relating to things like water.
Community engagement will include objectives like improving partnerships with nonprofits in the community or enhancing communication between people and the city via websites and social media.
The City Council directed city staff to elaborate specific action steps under the broad goal framework it worked out during the work session on Monday. Staff were encouraged to be flexible and consider changing the wording of specific goal titles or objective titles from the way things were worded during the discussion on Monday.
Once the goals are in a final state, the City Council will be asked to formally adopt them via a resolution during a regular meeting. The goals will serve as a guiding framework both the council and staff can look to as they prioritize the use of resources over the next two years.
