City Council resumed a multi‑year review of the draft 2025–2029 strategic plan and gave staff direction to clarify sequencing, raise the profile of the Climate Action and Resilience Plan and begin a focused update on wildfire preparedness.

City Manager Heather Geyer walked council through sections of the draft plan and invited corrections and prioritization guidance. Council reached several clarifying decisions during the session:

- Climate action prioritized: Council members asked that the Climate Action and Resilience Plan be elevated in the environmental-stewardship section so the high-level plan appears before discrete implementation items. Staff agreed to reorder the plan so the climate plan is presented first, followed by supporting programs. The council signaled it expects adoption of the climate plan to be scheduled in the coming weeks.

- Wildfire preparedness study follow-up: Council member Nowicki requested a study session to evaluate wildfire risks and mitigation. Staff recalled that North Metro Fire and prior council discussions had addressed mitigation in the past years and recommended starting with an email update summarizing prior direction and recent activity. Council agreed an email update would be a good first step; members seeking deeper review can ask to schedule a study session after receiving the update.

- Special events: Council asked staff to rename and reframe the “special events addition” line so it reads as an evaluation of events rather than an instruction to add named events. Staff will add a short timeline (a simple Gantt-style visual) showing when events are phased out or phased in so residents can see multi-year sequencing.

- Assistance for residents with code issues: Council asked staff to begin planning for a program to assist residents with code-related needs (for example, income-qualified minor home repairs or volunteer-driven community cleanup). Staff noted existing avenues — partnership with CREW and county programs — and council directed staff to schedule a study-session discussion in 2025 to refine options and identify funding paths.

- Diversity, engagement and community outreach: Council requested a deeper study-session conversation about the broader “Diverse and Engaged Community” goal to align internal workforce optimization (training and inclusion efforts) with outward-facing outreach and engagement programs. Staff and the DICE board will prepare a proposed approach and communications plan for council review.

Many other items were discussed across sections (business retention, sustainability grants, civic campus work and wastewater/agrivoltaics planning). Staff indicated some items are already funded (for example, grant-supported glass recycling and a community garden capital project) and others will require additional budget or grant support in later years. Geyer said staff will incorporate the council’s reordering and return a revised draft for adoption once the edits and a short timeline visual are added.

Ending — next steps

Staff will: (1) reorder the environmental section to place the Climate Action and Resilience Plan first; (2) send an email update on wildfire-preparedness work and schedule a study session as requested if council desires deeper review; (3) retitle and add a timeline visual for special-events planning; and (4) prepare a draft plan that reflects the council’s prioritization for review and formal adoption on a future agenda.