The Inter-Mountain photo Brooke Hinzman Elkins City Clerk Jessica Sutton discusses the City of Elkins’ five-year strategic plan during a Town Hall meeting.

The Inter-Mountain photo Brooke Hinzman
Elkins City Clerk Jessica Sutton discusses the City of Elkins’ five-year strategic plan during a Town Hall meeting.

ELKINS — The City of Elkins’ five-year strategic plan received praise from several individuals at a Town Hall meeting this week.

At the meeting in the Caboose Room of the Elkins Depot Welcome Center, City Clerk Jessica Sutton presented a review and update of the strategic plan, which the city adopted in September 2018 with the ultimate goal of making Elkins “the most livable and the most admired community in West Virginia.”

According to Sutton, 42 percent of all the milestone goals listed in the plan were completed as of the end of November 2019, while 32 percent of items were “past due” and the remaining 26 percent were “not yet due.”

“That could’ve been because the project got behind. In some cases, I think we were maybe a little ambitious about setting the deadlines. In other cases, things change. There may have been a couple items in the plan that ended up being sort of meshed together,” Sutton said in reference to the “past due” items, “but for whatever reason these items are considered past due because the milestone that was identified, the deadline that was identified in the plan was past, and we didn’t accomplish that goal entirely.”

The plan itself is separated into five strategic areas: redevelopment and beautification, execution of the master facilities plan, improved communications review and enhancement of government and process protocols and exploration of city boundary expansion opportunities.

“(It’s) important that when you develop something like this that you don’t just set it down on a shelf, show it off and say, ‘This is what we did,’– but actually continually (carrying) it with you in everything you do,” Sutton said. “We’ve tried to do that. This is the second time that we’ve done a review in just over a year of the strategic plan. This summer, it was presented to city council on a couple of occasions. We tried to make this review a little more public and go out into the community a little bit more so that people can be aware of what we were doing.”

During the presentation, Sutton also discussed the 1 percent municipal sales tax that went into effect in July 2018, stating that the funds collected totaled $1,371,380.72 at the time the presentation was created.

She noted $1.1 million of the funds (approximately 80 percent) have been appropriated or spent to aid in the completion of projects in the strategic plan, including more than $100,000 to the demolition fund; $125,000 to create a new entry level position for the police department; $1,200 to contract a city arborist; $45,000 for the downtown hanging basket expansion; $50,000 toward the implementation of the Main Street Streetscape Plan; $200,000 for the repair of the City Hall parking lot; $90,000 toward paying bonds on the Phil Gainer Community Center; $200,000 for City Hall renovations; $75,000 to fulfill Geographic Information System (GIS) needs; $40,000 for an External Affairs Specialist; and $7,000 for direct marketing funds.

“I think that’s important to note because there was some skepticism when we implemented the sales tax,” said Sutton. “At the same time, council was in the process of developing this plan, and I think this goes to show that they put a lot of effort into this plan and that they’re sticking to it. They’re holding on to that document, and they’re using that sales tax in a way that is very calculated — very intentional — and I think that’s important.”

Sutton noted the city completely eliminated the manufacturing business & occupation tax when the sales tax was adopted with hopes of drawing manufacturing into the city that didn’t already exist.

“This is a vision for 2023, and if you go back and look through all the milestones that are set in the plan, I really think that this is an achievable goal, and we are working very hard — not just city council, but everybody in the community I think– to reach that goal,” she said.

After the presentation, several citizens commended the city for its efforts in implementing the strategic plan.

“I appreciate what the city is doing and Jessica being here,” said Mark Doak. “The City of Elkins itself — the population has been level for many many years, and somehow you’ve got to take it to that next level. I was one of those who was hesitant about the sales tax, but at the same time, seeing that the city is investing that money back in the community to give us a better-looking and more vibrant community for the future, I think will help increase our population to go forward.”

Rhett Topping stated, “I feel the most positive I’ve felt in the last 10 years about what’s happening here, and I was in a real funk about two years ago, regretting coming here 23 years ago. I really feel like you guys are doing a good job in investing the money wisely (…) I’m very very positive about how the town is starting to turn.”

Carrie Kline said, “I think this plan is very exciting and reflects a lot of hard work. I’m very excited about it, and I appreciate you taking the time to share it with the general public in addition to the other formats.”

The next Town Hall meeting is scheduled to begin at 5:15 p.m. on April 21 in the Caboose Room at the Elkins Depot Welcome Center.