Being a municipality located wholly within another municipality, city officials in Red Bank face unique challenges when it comes to growth and management. To tackle these challenges, Red Bank leaders have adopted numerous strategic planning practices to ensure that the city’s annual budget cycle, citywide needs, visions for the future, and staff concerns are all incorporated into making right-sized, educated decisions.
In recognition of the coordinated efforts made by the city of Red Bank to incorporate a strategic process for executing city projects and empower both staff and citizens in the decision-making process, the Tennessee Municipal League is pleased to present Red Bank with an award for Excellence in Strategic Planning. The award will be presented Tuesday, July 2, at the 84th Annual Conference of the Tennessee Municipal League (TML) held at the Knoxville Convention Center.
“The City of Red Bank is honored to receive the strategic planning award from the Tennessee Municipal League,” said Red Bank Mayor Hollie Berry. “Wise planning is the cornerstone of both the long-term prosperity of a community and its responsiveness to its residents. Red Bank strives to set the gold standard in every aspect of municipal service delivery, and strategic planning is the first of many facets of excellence. Now that planning is well underway, we are excited to begin executing on our community’s plans and to see them come to life.”
The city of Red Bank has three major components of its strategic planning process: an annual commission retreat, annual budget cycle, and a citywide comprehensive plan. In the past three years, city leaders have held an annual, day-long retreat in February, facilitated by UT-MTAS, to analyze and determine goals for both the city and commission in the coming year. Each member of the Board of Commission helps set five strategic goals for the city along with the jointly decided mission and vision-statements.
These goals then become a key part of the city’s annual budget process conducted from March through May. Citizens are invited to four budget workshops and presented with a certificate for their participation in the process if they attend all four. This resulted in higher than usual participation, giving more citizen buy-in to the budget.
The city has also initiated its first-ever comprehensive plan and small area study and worked with the firm TSW to engage with the community. In addition to an overall comprehensive plan, the study will also focus on development of a 12-acre parcel of vacant land in the central business district.
The planning process has also led to the creation of Red Banks’ new Community Development Department, which will be organized with a director, community planner, building official, and office manager. This department will provide both continuity for city planning as well as be a one-stop-shop for private developers.
Other strategic plans in the works for Red Bank include:
· A sidewalk inventory and pedestrian connectivity,
· Pavement condition index and repaving plan,
· Citywide signage inventory and management;
· Stormwater Assessment Management; and
· A Parks Master Plan to be overseen by the city’s first-ever park manager and Parks and Rec Advisory Board.
Each year the Tennessee Municipal League honors cities throughout the state for overall excellence, improvement, specific outstanding programs, or department accomplishments. Award winners for 2024 include the city of Townsend for Excellence in Community Planning; the city of Shelbyville for Excellence in Downtown Revitalization; the city of East Ridge for Excellence in Economic Development; the city of Etowah for Excellence in Finance; the city of Alcoa for Excellence in Fire Services; the city of Columbia for Excellence in Green Leadership; the city of Pigeon Forge for Excellence in Police Services; the town of Spring City for Excellence in Tourism Development; the city of Eagleville for Innovation in Emergency Services; the city of Ripley for Innovation in Energy and Disaster Resiliency; and the city of Maynardville for Small City Progress.