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CARLISLE Officials present were: Mayor Ruth Randleman, Council Members Douglas Hammerand, Eric Mahnke, Frank Shultz and Drew Merrifield and City Administrator Neil Ruddy. Council Member Blair Dewey was absent. Also present were Ethel Lee of the Carlisle Chamber of Commerce and Brandi Stalzer and Tiffany Coleman of the Warren County Economic Development Corporation. Mayor
Randleman presided
and called the meeting to order at 6:03 P.M.
Mayor
Randleman stated that the purpose of the meeting was to discuss a marketing plan
for the Carlisle community. Tina
Mowry Hadden of Mowry Strategies, Inc. explained that she has done marketing,
leadership development and strategic planning for various communities and is
currently working on projects for Altoona and Pleasant Hill.
A marketing or strategic plan is intended to be a living document that
guides a community to the realization of its vision for the future.
It needs to be officially adopted and must contain measurable goals and
action strategies so that its implementation does not depend on individual
personalities. Carlisle’s
non-representational logo and existing slogan, “the natural choice”, mission
and vision statements from various community groups and a draft marketing plan,
were discussed. A draft mission
statement, “to build a sense of community and civic pride, create an image of
the City as the best place to live and raise a family and foster business
partnerships and growth”, was discussed. The
question of whether there is a need to modify the City’s image, including
possible perceptions that the City government is not progressive, that the City
is not a part of the metro area, that downtown commercial real estate is not a
good investment and that the Police Department harasses businesses, was
discussed. The need to think in a 5
to 10 year time frame was discussed. The
Warren County Economic Development Marketing Plan, which was developed for
approximately $10,000 and which is currently being implemented, was discussed.
Goals include creating a positive image for the County and a presence in
the central Iowa market. Ethel
Lee left the meeting at 7:00 P.M. Successful
funding applications, including the $367,000 watershed improvement grant, the
$2,600,000 federal grant for roads and trails and the $1,200,000 in Rural
Development grants and loans for the Avon sewer project, were discussed.
It was noted that other cities have either tax increment financing or
County financing to assist with infrastructure development and that these
sources are not currently available to Carlisle. Examples
of comparable cities from the current list of 100 Best Places to Live were
discussed. Possible
first steps, including a marketing plan, communications methods, a citizen’s
academy, business focus groups, a community brochure and an advertising
campaign, were discussed. It was
noted that Altoona has adopted the slogan, “a healthy attitude” and has
changed its theme line from “quality of life begins here” to “quality of
life grows here” in order to reflect a commitment to green infrastructure. Council
Member Shultz left the meeting at 7:25 P.M. The
City website was discussed. It was
felt that it is more important to decide on a direction rather than a tactic,
such as a website. A
budget for conducting a strategic planning process was estimated at $4,500 to
$8,000. The City has approximately
$2,500 in its 2007-08 budget that can be spent on a marketing or strategic plan.
The lack of staff to implement a plan was discussed.
The need to get all stakeholders, including the City, the Chamber, the
Betterment Group, WCEDC, commercial lenders and investors and real estate
brokers and developers at a meeting, to discuss how a plan can be funded, was
discussed.
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Ruth Randleman, Mayor Attest: ___________________________ Neil
Ruddy, Administrator/Clerk
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