BY DAN HILDEBRAN
The director of community and social services for Clay County told the board of county commissioners that the local government had reached some of the goals outlined in its strategic plan and is making progress toward other aspirations.
Gabrielle Gunn reviewed a report from County Manager Howard Wanamaker, which stated that while county commissioners set a goal of a 90% retention rate for county employees, the current retention rate is 99%.
Gunn added that the county is exceeding its goal for the days it takes to process new permits for residential and commercial structures.
She noted that the strategic plan calls for a permit review time of seven days for residential structures and 30 days for commercial buildings.
In June, county workers averaged 22 days to review permits for commercial buildings and five days for residential units.
The director also pointed out progress in other goals within the document.
The plan stipulates that at least 95% of county employees receive at least 24 hours of training annually. The current staff training rate is 32%.
The plan also sets a grant revenue goal of $100 million within five years. To date, the county has received $38 million in grant awards.
The plan also sets the goal of the county inspecting 100% of all high-risk occupancy buildings each year. Through June, county inspectors looked over 123 of the county’s 359 high-risk occupancy buildings.
Another aspiration in the strategic plan is to decrease the fire rescue response time to emergency calls by 15% in five years. The average fire rescue response time in 2023 was seven minutes and 11 seconds.
With a target response time of six minutes and six seconds, fire rescue took 7:06 in January to get to calls, 7:04 in February, 7:24 in March, 6:59 in April, 7:19 in May, and 7:01 in June.
The document sets a live release rate of 90% for the animal services department, which would qualify the county’s shelter as a no-kill animal shelter.
Animal services met that goal in January, February, and March but fell below the target in April, May, and June. The current live release rate is 88%.
The county also aspires to increase ridership in its public transportation efforts by 20% over the next five years, which would equate to 50,621 riders per year. Through the first half of 2024, the number of riders was 21,760.
One infrastructure goal is to resurface 100 miles of roadways in five years. So far, the county has resurfaced 31.1 miles. In addition, the county set a goal of improving or adding 20 miles of sidewalks or trails within the next half-decade. So far, the county has added or enhanced 1.86 miles of the alternative routes.
Another infrastructure goal is to maintain and improve 10,000 feet of pipes and ditches to improve stormwater management within five years. So far, the county has completed 3,470 feet of improvements.
