Morrison County 10-year strategic plan updated

Morrison County officials presented their updated 10-year strategic plan to the County Board of Commissioners during its planning session Tuesday, March 19. The plan, first approved in 2023, aims to guide the county’s priorities and initiatives through 2033.

County Administrator Matt LeBlanc provided an overview of progress made since the plan’s adoption. He reported that departments have focused on areas like security enhancements, data protection and inventory management in the digital infrastructure category. Staff have also evaluated positions and conducted leadership training in human resources.

Maintenance of existing facilities remains a priority, as shown by recent projects. County departments continue to monitor legislative impacts and ensure services are accessible to all residents.

In one slide of LeBlanc’s presentation, he showed the strategic plan running estimate, where six separate triangles hovered above six respective lines at varying points. These lines and triangles represented the progress made through the plan’s six lines of effort: people, real property, infrastructure, future resident support, community collaboration and knowledge management.

“Last year, if you recall, all of those triangles were at the starting point, not even walking across the chart. The number of vertical lines corresponds to the number of tasks. It doesn’t necessarily do one for one, but it’s more of a gauge on kind of where we’re at and that entire line effort,” LeBlanc said. “This is almost like that tachometer of a race car. You rev up and come back down. But we will never finish. Items will drop off the list and items will come on the list. But that little meter will move back and forth to hopefully give the Board a picture of the progress made.”

Emergency preparedness is a growing focus, with departments participating in active shooter training. The strategic plan also looks ahead to potential future technologies, like a unified citizen website portal.

LeBlanc emphasized the plan is a roadmap, not a mandate. The Board will vote on whether to approve the updated strategic plan as part of the consent agenda at its next regular meeting Tuesday, March 26. LeBlanc will bring it back annually for Board discussion and alignment with the budget. Residents can expect continued updates on initiatives addressing the strategic plan’s six lines of effort.