Director’s Message

“Why are we here?” “What do we aspire to be?” These questions inspired Lynchburg Water Resources’ strategic planning process and helped us define our role in providing clean and safe water to our community. We recognize that water utilities are on the verge of a new era. Pipes that were installed over a century ago are in critical need of replacement. The current regulatory and legislative environment is becoming more complicated. Changing weather patterns result in more complex threats to our infrastructure. Technology improvements have changed the way we manage data and address customers’ needs and expectations. Education and outreach programs are vital in teaching our citizens and youth about the importance of protecting our environment. A highly trained and motivated workforce is essential. We must meet these needs in a fiscally responsible manner, with rates that reflect the true cost of service but are also sensitive to the economic conditions in our community. This requires careful and thoughtful planning to ensure that our resources are used effectively and efficiently.

Beyond 2020 creates a clear strategy for addressing these challenges. This plan reflects several years of hard work and planning by many Water Resources employees. We began by rebranding the department and creating a new logo with the tagline “Our Job is Clear!” Employee-led committees developed goals and initiatives for specific strategic objectives. We also developed a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) Analysis and utilized its results to enhance our plan. Finally, we brought in a facilitator to help ensure consistency across the plan.

Our Mission and Vision statements provide the foundation for the entire plan and demonstrate our commitment to clean water and our community. Our Mission is clear: Promote the life, health, and prosperity of our community. Our Vision is simple: Clean Water, Clear Streams, Thriving Community.

Our values support our mission and vision. Instead of the more traditional approach of defining our values, we used them in statements to emphasize what is important to us. We are committed to the health and safety of our citizens. We are passionate about

the environment. We embrace a collaborative spirit. We respect each other and our community. We make a difference. This connects our values and vision and will help each member of our team visualize his or her role in our success.

We developed strategic objectives with the needs of our community in mind. Our six key focus areas embody what we do: Customer Satisfaction, Employee Engagement and Development, Infrastructure Management, Environmental Stewardship, Fiscal Responsibility, and Resiliency. Each strategic objective has several corresponding goals and a series of specific initiatives that will help drive our success. To hold ourselves accountable, each initiative will be assigned to a leader or committee with a target date to complete objectives. In the broader sense, we will identify a number of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that will be regularly monitored and tracked for transparency to ensure that we are meeting not only our expectations but also the expectations of the community.

This document reflects our vital role in providing exceptional water, wastewater, and stormwater services that are crucial to the overall success of our community. We will develop partnerships and work as a team to meet these common goals and ensure the long term sustainability of our water systems and our natural resources. This plan will guide us to fulfill our mission to promote the life, health, and prosperity of our community.

Timothy A. Mitchell, PE Director, Lynchburg Water Resources