The Turlock City Council reviewed and discussed updating the City of Turlock Strategic Plan 2011-13 on March 14, 2011, with virtually nobody in attendance but City Management, two media reporters, and the Turlock Chamber of Commerce CEO.
While the March 14th special meeting was said to have been scheduled from 4pm to 10pm, a continuance of the Turlock Strategic Plan 2011-13 update process was scheduled for April 4th while only a portion of the draft document was reviewed and commented on by Turlock City Council Members and City Management until just after 8pm.
The Turlock Strategic Plan 2007-09 was last reviewed in 2007 when it was adopted and there has not been an updated version since its expiration date.
The Turlock City Council reviewed and discussed a draft document of the Turlock Strategic Plan 2011-13 that included: Vision for Turlock, The Vision Statement, Purpose of the Strategic Plan, Goals/Action, Executive Summary, Effective Leadership, Fiscal Responsibility, Public Safety, Municipal Infrastructure, and Economic Development.
There was much talk about consolidation, regional partnerships, and efficiency while the City Management presented plans of possible mergers to some degree of Fire, Police, Parks and Recreation. Public safety services are looking at ways to regionalize services while there are proposed plans to place Parks and Recreation under the command of Turlock Police Chief Gary Hampton. Fire is also looking toward consolidation with the Turlock Police Department, more specifically the Support Services Division.
The issue of partnering with regional agencies in a proposed $180 million surface water treatment plant also came up. Water rate increases were discussed and Council was told that they should expect to see a presentation on water rate changes around October 2011.
Community Facility District (CFD) fees, an assessment fee most property owners in newer developments in Turlock pay for their specific area’s maintenance and improvements, were questioned as to maybe the entire City should be just one CFD so all of Turlock would be paying fees to maintain and improve all streets, sidewalks, street lighting, landscaping, and such. This would require a majority vote by community residents though.
On April 4th at 7pm in City Hall, the Turlock City Council will again take up reviewing and updating the Strategic Plan for 2011-13 while discussing Intelligent-Planned-Managed Growth, Social Infrastructure, Community Programs & Facilities and Infrastructure while also discussing the implementation of the plans for all areas.
