Village Moves Quickly Toward Strategic Plan

The village of Oswego is moving forward with plans to undertake a comprehensive strategic plan.

Trustees voted unanimously Tuesday night to give interim Village Administrator Dwight Baird the authority to conduct contract negotiations with Lynn Montei and Associates to develop a strategic plan for Oswego. The contract is not to exceed $22,000 and will be subject to legal review by Village Attorney Karl Ottosen.

“This is a very exciting thing,” said Village President Brian LeClercq. “There is going to be an incredible amount of people from around the community involved in this.”

Montei presented her strategic plan proposal to the board at a special meeting called to discuss the process Tuesday.

“I’m very committed to this process,” said Baird, who led the Police Department through a similar process in 2006. “This will provide the village with a vision and and set of goals that will act as a foundation for our future. Without that vision decisions are made for the here and now and not for the long term.”

Developing the strategic plan is likely to take months of intense meetings and commitment from elected and appointed officials, village staff, local businesses owners and residents. The first step in the process will be to select a steering committee to help guide the process.

LeClercq said trustees Terry Michels and Gail Johnson already have agreed to sit on the committee. Baird said the committee could have its first meeting as soon as early June.

The process also will include all-day stakeholder, staff and village board workshops and a community meeting to discuss the plan. Baird said he hopes the first draft of the plan could be ready in September.

Johnson said she was very impressed with Montei’s proposal and admitted the scope of the project was larger than she originally envisioned.

“I think this is at a little higher level than we had previously thought about,” she said. “I don’t think that’s a bad thing, and I think this will give us a good idea of who we want to be.”

Former Village Administrator Gary Adams had previously advocated that the village develop such a plan. LeClercq said he couldn’t pinpoint why that never happened in the past, but finally is happening now.

“Normally the board tends to drag things out, and I guess they can now feel my sense of urgency,” he said.

Baird said he thought the April 5 election provided some new perspective on developing such a plan.

“I think that trustees heard during the campaign that this is something residents said they wanted,” he said. “ This should be a message that they’re listening.”

As for how the plan will be paid for, Baird said cost savings within the village budget will allow Oswego to pay the contract without budget amendments.

A list of some of Montei's previous clients can be found here.