Action Plan Overview
Every two years, the Town works to establish an Action Plan, which is a list of four to five goals that prioritize the input from the Town Council, Town Department Directors, and the community. These goals are highly impactful for the community, but on a scale that are obtainable over a 12- to 24-month timeframe.
In December of 2020, the Town polled the Community to gather opinions from citizens about the direction of the community over the next two years. Simultaneously, Town Department Leaders submitted input on internal goals. In January of 2021, the Town of Rutherfordton Town Council met to review this data and to formulate a set of goals to guide the Town towards the future. The Town Council evaluated past major accomplishments, issues, organizational effectiveness, priorities, and opportunities for success as we strive for the future. These items along with community feedback and input from the Town operational departments were then used to set specific action points, goals, and programs to guide the Town over the next several years. The specific responses of each category discussed are included in this Action Plan.
This Plan will be used to establish the Town’s priorities as it undertakes new ideas or amends existing programs. It is a proactive statement of where the Town wants to be in the future. The Action Plan identifies key initiatives with corresponding goals to direct the Town’s actions to help achieve its overarching mission while remaining in line with its values. The Town Council has committed to a bi-annual review of this plan to measure progress and to update the plan to best suit the ever-evolving needs of the community.
2019 Action Plan Overview
The 2019 Action Plan defined five key initiatives including Housing & Residential Development, Excellent Customer Service, Development of Commercial Corridors, Business Development, and Outdoor Recreation.
Despite the struggles of COVID-19, the Town succeeded in nearly every goal in the 2019 Action Plan. The Town was still able to reach goals including housing goals by partnering with the Gateway Foundation to create more housing inventory, providing excellent core services, and develop parks with completing Kiwanis Park and connecting the Purple Martin Greenway from Crestview Park to Kiwanis Park. Additionally, the Town’s Planning Board and Council have worked hard to create a new Unified Development Ordinance that will be passed in early 2021.
2021 Action Plan
The Action Plan identifies and defines key initiatives and includes corresponding goals and sub goals to direct future actions by the Town to achieve the vision of the plan and the overarching Town mission and values. The plan is broken down into four key areas:
- Accessible & Responsive Government
- Balanced Economic Development
- Community Gathering, Inclusion, & Beautification
- Infrastructure, Facilities, & Operations
Each of these key areas includes goals to help give shape to each topic. The goals are the specific desires of the Town Council over the next several years and are seen as comprehensive and provide substance to each key area of the plan.