Fredericksburg City Council Special Meeting: Strategic Plan Kick-Off - December 9, 2025

The Fredericksburg City Council held a special meeting on December 9, 2025, to discuss the development of a "rolling strategic plan" proposed by City Manager Clinton Bailey. The plan aims to consolidate the city's numerous existing master plans, the comprehensive plan (containing 134 tasks, none of which have been formally completed or tracked), and capital improvement projects (approximately $300 million) into a single, annually updated document. The goal is to improve transparency, accountability, and consistency across council transitions. The presentation included an overview of the plan's structure, integration with the existing OpenGov budgeting platform, and a proposed timeline of special meetings from January through April 2026 to finalize the plan.

Discussion Items

• Strategic Plan Overview: City Manager Clinton Bailey presented the rolling strategic plan concept, explaining that it would bring together all existing plans (comprehensive plan, water/wastewater master plan, transportation master plan, drainage master plan, parks master plan, etc.) into one document. He noted that the comprehensive plan includes 134 individual tasks, but none have been formally tracked or completed, and the city has invested $35 million in water infrastructure since the 2018 master plan. The plan would include a prioritized action list tied to council goals and the annual budget process, updated every year.
• Path to the Future Plan Review: Councilmember Bobby Watson questioned the value of including the 2018 "Path to the Future" plan, describing it as a "year-long town hall" with wishful thinking and no implementation method or accountability. He and others (including Emily Kirchner) agreed the plan was outdated and had been superseded by the comprehensive plan. City Manager Bailey recommended leaving it as background reference but not actively integrating it.
• Unified Development Code (UDC): Cliff (likely a staff member) explained that the UDC is not a standalone ordinance but a consolidation of zoning, subdivision regulation, and development ordinances to streamline processes and ensure consistency. The consultant will help identify deficiencies in existing codes.
• OpenGov Platform Integration: Bailey showed a video demonstrating OpenGov's strategic planning module, which can tie budget line items to strategic goals and track progress. The city already uses OpenGov for budgeting; the performance management upgrade may involve an additional cost. Councilmember Todd Eidson shared his positive experience with similar tools from his previous roles and praised the organizational benefits.
• Community Engagement and Metrics: Councilmember Tony Klein suggested including a community health assessment with metrics to gauge resident sentiment and external impacts. City Manager noted that OpenGov includes a community engagement tool that could be used for public input.
• Citizen University Involvement: Representatives from the Fredericksburg Citizens University class attended. Spokesperson Chelsea Sky explained that their class project is to set up a process for future classes to adopt and work on a specific item from the strategic plan, bringing community awareness and volunteer support.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Chelsea Sky (Citizens University representative): Described her class's project to establish a framework where future Citizens University classes can select a strategic plan item as their class project, conduct research, raise awareness, and involve volunteers. She requested more information to share with future classes.

Key Outcomes

• Council expressed general support for developing the rolling strategic plan, with consensus that it would improve organization, accountability, and proactive budgeting.
• City Manager Clinton Bailey will schedule a series of special meetings in January, February, March, and April 2026 to refine the plan. The January meeting will provide a high-level overview of all master plans and their projects, discuss completed items, funding capacity, and alignment with council goals.
• The plan will include an annually refreshed priority task list approved by council resolution each year, with monthly progress reports to council.
• The "Path to the Future" plan will be retained as background reference but not actively incorporated due to its age and lack of implementation structure.
• Council did not take a formal vote but directed staff to proceed with the outlined timeline and approach.