Kane County is considering a strategic planning process to create a five-year road map for the future of the county, which would be the first time the county has created such a plan since 2006.
The Kane County Executive Committee discussed the proposed five-year strategic plan at its meeting on Wednesday and unanimously approved a resolution to seek out proposals from consulting firms to help develop the plan. That resolution now goes to the Kane County Board, which meets on July 9.
“I don’t understand how, as an organization, we don’t have something like this that we update and keep at the forefront of who we are and who we want to be,” said District 21 County Board member Clifford Surges.
Some people may be concerned about the price of such a plan, but Surges said it is necessary — regardless of the county’s finances — to lay out the county’s past, present and hopeful future in a single plan.
A budget estimate was not included in the presentation and will likely not be available until after consulting firms submit their proposals, officials said.
Roger Fahnestock, executive director of information technologies and buildings management for Kane County, told committee members that the plan would be helpful to everyone involved in the county’s government, from elected officials to department directors, because it would keep them on track toward an agreed-upon vision of the future.
The strategic plan would help to set Kane County’s role in the community, guide its governance, establish priorities and set goals to be achieved over the next five years, according to the proposed Request for Proposal’s scope of services.
It says the plan would also include actions that can be taken by the county to achieve the stated goals and timelines on when those actions should be taken. The plan would also set metrics to be used to track progress on the plan, the document says.
A strategic plan would also bring together all of the county’s other various plans, such as its 2040 Plan and its recently adopted Climate Action Implementation Plan, according to Kane County Board Chair Corinne Pierog.
She said the planning process would include input from the community, similar to the planning process that resulted in the 2006 Strategic Plan.
That plan had a number of successful goals, such as the construction of the Kane County Adult Justice Center, the construction of a fiber optic network, upgrades to emergency communications systems, the protection of over 5,000 acres of farmland and the distribution of over $58 million to community projects through the Riverboat Grant program, among other achievements, officials said.
Unlike the 2006 Strategic Plan, Fahnestock said the proposed plan should be revisited every five years or so to ensure the county is always looking ahead.
rsmith@chicagotribune.com
