Workshop Item Ben Hayle, Communications Manager
Title
Strategic Plan Implementation
Background
In 2019 the Blaine City Council along with city staff began a strategic planning process. That process culminated with the Council adopting a three year strategic plan in October 2020. The strategic plan includes six strategic priorities.
• Effective Communication
• Financial Sustainability
• Growth Management
• Organizational Health
• TH 65 Improvement
• Well-Maintained Infrastructure
Each strategic priority comes with a set of desired outcomes, key outcome indicators, targets, and strategic initiatives. Cascading actions plans will be built to put the strategic plan into motion.
Once the City Council adopted the strategic plan staff was tasked with implementation. Under the direction of the city manager the staff management team was asked to recommend individuals from their departments to serve on an implementation team. This team would also be responsible for monitoring the progress of the strategic plan over the next three years. Four staff members were selected for this team based on their skill sets. These staff members agreed to take on this extra assignment in addition to their respective full time duties.
This team will be organizational change champions as the strategic plan is implemented. This team will work alongside departments and managers to make recommendations regarding the strategic plan, challenge the departments to meet their goals and analyze the data that they are providing. The team will help facilitate the conversations that need to be had surrounding progress in various departments as it relates to the plan. The team will report all progress to the city manager on a regular basis. A report will also be provided to the City Council on a regular basis.
The team includes:
• Ben Hayle, Communications Manager
• Dalton Larson, Accountant
• Cory Richter, GIS Manager
• Cathy Sorensen, City Clerk
Through the initial implementation process it became clear to staff that the city did not have an existing system to track and report on the progress of the strategic plan. It was also clear that the city does not have a staff member with the capacity to take on a full project manager role with the strategic plan.
Staff began to research options for both project management and a system for reporting and tracking. Staff looked at both internal and external tools and vetted three potential tools:
OpenGov
The team decided that OpenGov did not have the functionality that would be needed for this type of project, as its strengths lie more in its budgeting and financial reporting capabilities than project management.
Esri Hub
Esri has the capability to assist in this process but the system is not designed specifically for this type of work. The City would need to pay for a vendor to build out an Esri based solution due to limited availability of staff time. Estimates were sought for this work and ranged from $10,000 - $20,000. These estimates were just the cost for building out the system and did not include any ongoing project management or data development. Additional costs would be incurred and billed at an al a carte rate. The hourly rate ranges from $130-$200 per hour and the minimum block of time is 20-30 hours depending on the vendor.
Envisio
After a careful review and multiple meetings with Envisio it was clear that this was the right balance of a strategic plan implementation and tracking platform with project management support and both internal and external reporting. Next staff performed reference checks on Envisio by speaking with other Minnesota cities that use the Envisio product. These cities include Maplewood, Coon Rapids, Minnetonka, and Brooklyn Center. These conversations solidified staff’s opinion that Envisio was the right choice. Envisio is built around cascading action plans just like the City of Blaine strategic plan. The system is designed to work with our type of strategic plan. Staff also attended a webinar highlighting how Envisio was used in both Maplewood and Minnetonka. Through that webinar staff learned that in order to implement a strategic plan, you don’t just need a depository for data and information, you need a system that can collect this data, use it to track progress, provide internal/external reporting, and hold staff accountable. Envisio does all of this.
|
|
Envisio |
Esri Hub |
OpenGov |
|
Designed for Strategic |
Yes |
No |
No |
|
Plan Implementation |
|
|
|
|
Built in reports |
Yes |
Has to be configured |
Finance and budget |
|
|
|
|
based |
|
Built in dashboards |
Yes |
Has to be configured |
Finance and budget |
|
for staff |
|
|
based |
|
Built in dashboards |
Yes |
Has to be configured |
Limited options |
|
for the public |
|
|
outside of finance and |
|
|
|
|
budget |
|
Project management |
Yes |
Need to contract |
No |
|
support |
|
separately |
|
|
Automatic scheduling |
Yes |
Has to be configured |
No |
|
and reminders |
|
|
|
Staff engaged Envisio in conversations regarding pricing and length of contract. Staff negotiated a savings to the City of Blaine taxpayers by asking Envisio to provide pricing that would match the entire three year strategic plan adopted by the Council. The savings would be realized in the first year of the contract with a $2,500 reduction in the implementation fee.
Envisio contract details:
• Year one: $25,000
• Year two: $20,000
• Year three: $20,000
• Total: $65,000
If the City Council does not want to commit to a three year agreement the City does have the option to enter into a one year agreement for $27,500. Any ongoing commitment would be a part of the annual budgeting process. There are funds available in the 2021 budget to cover the first year cost at either level.
Through a partnership with Envisio the city will not only be able to implement the strategic plan but will also have access to the Envisio system to implement a second plan. It is Envisio’s standard practice to include two plans in each contract. Potential options for using the Envisio system include the capital improvement plan, a business retention and attraction plan, police department community engagement plan.
Whenever the City chooses to end the relationship with Envisio the City will own all the data that was uploaded to the Envisio platform. All the data will be stored on secure US based servers.
The staff team that has been tasked with the strategic plan implementation brought a recommendation to the management team to enter into a contract agreement with Envisio. This agreement was reviewed by the city manager, department heads, and city attorney prior to coming to the City Council.
Staff Recommendation
Staff is seeking feedback from the City Council on the strategic plan implementation process. Staff is recommending that the City move forward with an agreement with Envisio based on the rationale detailed above and wants to hear Council feedback on that recommendation. Staff would also like feedback from the Council on the two different agreement options with Envisio.
Attachment List
Strategic plan implementation presentation
City of Blaine Strategic Plan