Schott then guided city officials through identifying “ongoing priorities,” which are projects the council views as commitments.

Included were sewer separation, wastewater treatment, streets, establishing a storm water utility, BVC operations, airport development, economic development, pursuing a casino license and the trails system.

Then Schott advised the council to choose “significant initiatives,” which were drawn from the ongoing priorities.

“Think about what’s on the list and what’s involved to accomplish each one,” he said.

Among those were sewer separation, streets, wastewater, bridges, trails and economic development, supporting Main Street endeavors, reviewing the fire department’s framework, the budget and sources of revenue.

For the last step, Schott handed out four green dots to each council member and the mayor. Schott had put all of his more than 20 large tablet pages on the wall of the conference room.

Schott told each elected official to put one of the green dots beside the items they considered most important.

“This is the only time the mayor gets to vote along with the council,” Schott said.

The top three votegetters were reviewing the fire department, promoting the airport and developing an energy conservation program.

Schott will prepare a finalized IPA report and submit it to Helfenberger, who will distribute it to the mayor and council.

Cindy Toopes can be reached at (641) 683-5376 or via e-mail at cindy@ottumwacourier.com.