By Liz Moomey
liz.moomey@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — With a laundry list of items on the agenda, the Salisbury City Council will have its planning retreat Monday and Tuesday.

The retreat will start Monday at 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. and pick back up Tuesday at 9 a.m. at the Livingstone School of Hospitality and Culinary Arts on Jake Alexander Boulevard. The retreat will be facilitated by Warren Miller, of Fountainworks. Items from recycling to the traffic are on the agenda.

On Monday, the council will discuss its mission and vision statements. City Manager Lane Bailey will give a Capital Improvement Plan review.

On Tuesday, council will begin at 9 a.m. The council will discuss economic and downtown development, which includes incentives and disincentives to promote downtown occupancy, First Fridays, pop-up markets, efforts to promote retail in downtown, an economic summit and the IDEA Center.

After lunch, at 12:45 p.m., the council will move to a section of the agenda labeled “community development and infrastructure,” which includes 15 topics. There is no start time included for any of the 15 topics.

The topics include: traffic patterns and downtown traffic study, Bell Tower Green, the Depot and developing a transportation center, leveraging community partnerships, seeking grants through the Kauffman Foundation to assist with social issues, exploring Angel Fund investments, exploring grant opportunities through My Brother’s Keeper, U.S. Conference of Mayors Community Re-stabilization Grants, seeking grants or interest-free loans for utility infrastructure, citywide housing availability and initiatives including housing veterans, a Veteran’s Hall of Fame, an update on veterans hiring program, pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly infrastructure expansion, identifying issues for a federal agenda, state of recycling, city lake improvements and an employee compensation update.

The retreat will conclude with Miller helping to establish priority goals and reprioritizing the Capital Improvement Plan.