In 2018, Otter Tail County’s Board embarked on a multi-year journey to answer the question “What do we want our communities to look like in 20 years?” and “What do we want to promote, encourage, and enhance?”
Created in partnership with our residents and community stakeholders, Our Long-Range Strategic Plan (LRSP) establishes a long-term vision for managing growth and development decisions.
Containing six elements, it is supported by goals and strategies that guide decision making and serves as the county’s roadmap to prioritize initiatives, improvements, resources, operations, and projects. The plan serves as a big picture document directing county efforts and resources towards the vision.
Long-Range Strategic Plan Elements
Early in the planning process, the planning team and county stakeholders identified topic areas that warranted specific focus in this long-range planning process. Six plan elements were identified for inclusion in the plan, and the plan is organized accordingly.
These elements include:
Resilience
Safe, Healthy, and Livable Communities; Belonging (Goals, strategies, and leads)
Economy
Housing, Business Retention and Expansion, Recruitment, Education (Goals, strategies, and leads)
Land Use
Existing and Future Use of Land (Goals, strategies, and leads)
Public Infrastructure
Transportation, Utility Infrastructure, Communications Infrastructure (Goals, strategies, and leads)
Natural Resources
Lakes and Wetlands, Forests and Prairies, Soils, Cultural Resources (Goals, strategies, and leads)
Parks and Trails
Existing and Future Park and Trail Infrastructure (Goals, strategies, and leads)
Our Progress
As we strive to implement the goals, strategies, initiatives, and projects within the LRSP, we are also working diligently to measure progress and make sure that we are on the right path. This is a living document that will change as our communities change, and we’ll highlight efforts in our website, in meetings with our County Board and in the community. Our original, pre-pandemic LRSP document has been archived and can be found on the Otter Tail County Long Range Strategic Plan project page.