Just over two years ago the City Council adopted the 2017–2021 Strategic Plan. City staff continues to uphold the mission and vision of the city by linking services, tasks, and projects to the six strategic plan Focus Areas: Quality of Life, Infrastructure and Public Facilities, Economic Development, Neighborhood Revitalization, Governing and Fiscal Management, and Communication. Implementation of these focus areas is accomplished by execution of a formal list of Strategic Plan Action Items and Critical Measurements. These measurable actions with the tasks help track progress toward the goals.
Let’s review some of our accomplishments in 2018 in each focus area:
Quality of Life
- Opened the new Skate Park in Kiwanis Park
- Senior Activity Center has led the way to the pursuit to become an AARP Age Friendly Community
- Coordinated with Sheboygan County Non-Motorized on the construction of the southside utility corridor bike path
- Acquired railroad property to extend the Shoreland 400 trail from Pennsylvania Avenue to Union Avenue
- Sheboygan was recognized as a Bronze level Bike Friendly Community by the League of American Bicyclists
- Shoreline Metro projects a 14% ridership increase in 2018 a 16-year high in ridership
- Shoreline Metro began a partnership with the Sheboygan Area School District to provide free student trips on all routes during all hours of service for students of the district simply by showing a school ID
- Security Choice ranked Sheboygan as the 23rd safest city in America for families
Infrastructure and Public Facilities
- Relocated City Hall offices and began the year-long renovation of City Hall
- With the use of an asphalt paving machine, the DPW Street Department staff was able to increase the miles of city streets that were resurfaced per year to a decade high of 7.2 miles in 2018
- Implemented the ash tree master plan
- For the 40th consecutive year Sheboygan earned the Tree City USA designation
- Installed new river docks at the Riverfront
- Installed new lights at Sheboygan A’s stadium
- Replaced light poles on North 8th Street
- Applied for and received a grant to replace two fixed route buses
Economic Development
- Finished the construction and programmed the new “City Green” outdoor Downtown entertainment venue
- Developed plans for the Fresh Tech Innovation District along Indiana Avenue
- Saw a new Marriott Fairfield Hotel begin construction
- Approved plans for a new visitor center
- Finished the construction of the first phase of the new South Pointe Enterprise Campusbusiness park
- Annexed land that is planned for a new golf course development
- Assisted developers to see three new residential projects completed and four additional residential projects begin construction
Neighborhood Revitalization
- Created neighborhood development plans for two neighborhood associations
- Held two “Rock the Block” events in partnership with Habitat for Humanity
- Held monthly interdepartmental staff meetings to coordinate neighborhood issues
- Held a Landlord Training Program that trained 40 landlords
- Continued to implement a neighborhood lighting program to provide more street lights in central city neighborhoods
- Promoted housing funding programs to qualified homeowners for improvements to their properties
- Implemented a second Neighborhood Beat Officer to serve Southside neighborhoods
Governing and Fiscal Management
- Sheboygan partnered with ClearGov to provide valuable municipal benchmarking intelligence to help the City of Sheboygan’s leaders quickly compare their finances against similar communities to make more informed and data-driven policy and budgetary decisions
- Provided resident access to city budget and financial audit documents
- Received GFOA award for financial documents and City Budget
- Produced the “CITY N.E.W.S.” (News Employees Want to Share) quarterly employee newsletter
- Developed a succession plan for all management positions
Communication
- Created and filled the position of Communications Specialist and Administrative Assistant to the Mayor
- Produced the “Sheboygan Insider” monthly electronic city newsletter
- Updated the resident survey
- Are developing external communications plan
- Expanded our social media presence on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Nextdoor
- Added 360° photos of the inside of the rentable park shelters to www.sheboyganwi.gov/parks
This Strategic Plan is and always be a work in progress. While the mission, vision, and core values should remain constant, the goals will slowly evolve, the actions and tasks will need periodic review and refinement. Progress will be tracked through regular reporting as part of the City’s annual project review process. The action items the Strategic Plan for 2019 and 2020 were reviewed in 2018 after conducting a community survey
