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Red Bank receives Municipal League award for Excellence in Strategic Planning

Red Bank
Red Bank residents participate in a community engagement session as part of the creation of the city's Parks and Recreation Master Plan.

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 this 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 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 one major goal 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 of 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 pavement,
  • 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. 

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