ELKINS — Randolph County Commission officials have identified their vision and goals for the new year.

Commissioners said they have been in the process of creating a five-year strategic plan they hope to adopt early this year.

“One of the biggest issues is looking at a five-year plan with parts of that being how do we improve the commission and make things better,” Commissioner Mark Scott said.

The commission met with county elected officials and department heads, at which time they participated in strategic planning with Tom Haywood, who previously assisted in strategic planning with the City of Elkins.

“He sent us a draft back, and we’ve had an opportunity to look at it now,” said Scott.

Newly-appointed Commission President David Kesling identified his three main goals for 2020, which include maintaining the financial stability of the county, streamlining county supply costs and building a splash pad.

“There are a lot of departments that buy from different organizations with different costs for things. I think if we streamline that more, it will be an overall savings benefit for the county,” Kesling said, noting that the prices of identical products vary depending on suppliers.

Kesling stated that the commission worked hard in 2019 attempting to bring the splash pad project to fruition.

“We tried to work with the city, but the city didn’t really want anything to do with it at the time. Then we looked at the 4-H, but the 4-H wasn’t interested in a splash pad. We looked at property in Beverly, but it was in a flood plain. We also looked at maybe working with the Elks, but the Elks pool needs a lot of renovations,” he said.

Kesling added that he would like to form a community committee to help with the project.

“I want to get more of the community involved in it — where they want it, actually what they want,” he said. “That’s one of the big projects that I’d really like to try to get done this year.”