Six goals Gastonia leaders set at recent City Council meeting
At a recent City Council meeting, the city of Gastonia restated its departmental goals and objectives for the 2023-25 period.
Here is an overview of those goals according to city documents attached to the March 19 City Council meeting agenda.
1. Infrastructure
First up on the list, the city said it plans to continue partnering with surrounding municipalities to work on traffic congestion in the area.
The city plans to specifically focus on the Catawba Crossings project and the widening of I-85.
Adding and extending sidewalks and greenways around the city is also on the list.
Additionally, the city said it will begin exploring transportation options like light rail and high speed railway systems.
2. Healthy community
The city plans to continue working on the renovation of the Walker E. Reid III Park, including design and construction of park shelter(s) and playground equipment through use of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds.
3. Government
Employees with the city should expect Gastonia's Employee Development and Engagement Manager to, "work with departments to create opportunities for employee engagement with a focus on professional development, leadership, inclusion, and training," according to the document.
The city will also implement rate adjustments to city utilities, "to provide additional funding for repair and replacement of critical capital needs in the water and wastewater conveyance and treatment systems and the electric distribution system," the document said.
Some other goals include expanding the city's Farm to Table program, reducing homelessness and completely updating the city's comprehensive plan.
4. Safety
The city said it will work to create a safer and more accessible highways, streets and roadways for pedestrians, bicyclists, public transportation users, motorists, personal conveyance and micro-mobility users and commercial vehicle operators.
According to the document, it will do this by completing the citywide traffic signal system upgrade project with NCDOT and completing a Safety Action Plan.
The city also plans to identify and secure property for future fire stations and begin designing and securing funding to expand personnel, apparatus and facilities.
The document also said the city is struggling to fill vacant law enforcement positions and will begin working with local legislators to mitigate that issue.
5. Community Identity
The city plans to focus on customer service for residents this year and plans to implement this by moving toward interactive digital applications for residentss, improving customer payment options and continuing to improve the customer care center.
Additionally, the city plans to partner with local non-profits, businesses, entities and other units of local governmentto create housing opportunities for the most vulnerable populations using the HOME American Rescue Plan (ARP) allocation plan allowing it to use federal funds.
6. Economic Vitality
Economically, the city plans to work on recruiting businesses to fill storefronts downtown and to engage existing business owners in community activities.
The FUSE District is also still under progress, and the city aims to continue increasing residential and commercial occupancy, the document said.
To view the full list of goals visit gastonianc.gov/upcoming-recent-meetings.html to find the March 19 city council agenda.
This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: A recap of Gastonia's 2023-25 goals
