LA PLATA — Infrastructure, the capital improvement plan and upgrades to the wastewater treatment plant top the to-do list the La Plata Town Council formally adopted Oct. 27, putting the priorities from its September retreat into a resolution instead of leaving them as discussion notes.
The council adopted Resolution 26-75 by voice vote, with Councilman Gregory Sampson Jr. absent. It approves the strategic planning initiatives identified at the council’s Sept. 17 retreat, as summarized in a report from the facilitator, Zelos. Town Manager Chuck Stevens said the resolution carries no fiscal impact; any costs of carrying out the initiatives will go through the town’s normal budget process.
Last year, the council talked through its priorities but didn’t adopt them, Stevens said. Staff drafted a resolution this time to memorialize the work in a more formal way, so the public can pull it from the record at any point.
How the list was built
Before the retreat, the Zelos consultant held 30-minute one-on-one conversations with each council member to gather their views and find where they agreed and disagreed, then worked with staff on the agenda. Results of the National Community Survey, a resident survey run by the firm Polco, arrived just before the retreat and were used to frame some of the day’s discussion.
At the retreat, the council reviewed the town’s strategic framework, picked priorities and initiatives, discussed how to measure progress and set next steps. The consultant’s written summary proposed revisions to the framework and sorted initiatives into what must be finished in the next 12 months and what the council wants to advance by the end of its term.
Councilman Patrick McCormick said the top two items due within 12 months deal with infrastructure improvements and making sure the town is set up for the future. He asked that the item come to the council for discussion rather than ride through on the consent agenda, so residents could hear directly from staff. He said the council spent eight to 10 hours in the room that day and recommended residents watch the recording.
‘In direct competition with these goals’
Councilman Paul Guttenberg said he was pleased the near-term list centers on infrastructure investments, the capital improvement plan and wastewater plant improvements. The town’s water and sewer systems have been under pressure; earlier this month, Guttenberg said water use was close to the level that would trigger new conservation rules.
He also offered residents a way to read the council’s frequent floor fights. New items brought by staff or by individual members will consume staff time, he said, and they are “in direct competition with these goals.” That is why the council often has pointed debates over individual member proposals, he said, as it weighs whether a new issue rises to the level of the adopted priorities.
That tension has shown up repeatedly this fall. Earlier this month the council rejected small-business proposals from Sampson and moved toward travel rules for elected officials.
A different kind of retreat
Last year’s planning session ended up before the state. In November 2025, the Open Meetings Compliance Board found the council violated the Open Meetings Act during a Sept. 11, 2025, retreat billed as team-building. The board’s opinion noted that the council had set initiatives to advance by the end of 2025 there, and said residents are entitled to watch that kind of priority-setting.
This year’s retreat could be watched online, McCormick indicated, and the priorities now sit in a public resolution.
The Zelos report and the resolution are in the Oct. 27 meeting packet. Guttenberg said anything that raises awareness of the council’s priorities helps residents understand the context of its decisions, and that he expects new issues to arise over the next 12 to 18 months that the council will weigh against the list.
