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Danville officials focused on communication during a daylong annual planning and goal setting workshop on Friday. A continuation of discussions from previous years, no policy decisions were made during the meeting.

"The bottom line is they asked us to come back at future study session with more information," Town Attorney Rob Ewing said.

Among the topics discussed was is a midpoint update to the town's master technology plan, which was adopted in 2010 to increase digital and electronic access for residents. Ewing said town officials expressed interest in televising or streaming Town Council meetings, though the town meeting hall doesn't have the infrastructure to do so yet. The town will look into options for streaming meetings online as well as how other localities are using similar technology.

The workshop also focused on the implementation of four "Government 2.0" principles as well as progress toward the development of mobile platforms that will allow for easier retrieval of web-based information through mobile browsing. At a future study session, officials will present additional information on how this might work.

"They also want to continue Mornings with the Mayor and try to make some changes to broaden the outreach," Ewing added.

The Council and town officials also received a report on various developments throughout town, including the Magee Ranch/SummerHill Homes project and other smaller projects, as well as prior project approvals and advanced planning such as the 2030 General Plan. Recent public concern surrounding the draft General Plan was not discussed at the workshop.

Danville's 2012/13 fiscal outlook was also on the table at Friday's workshop during a mid-year operating budget and capital improvement program status report. Revenues are slightly ahead of budgeted projections at $20,883,533 and operating expenditures are tracking within/less than budgeted appropriations, with the exception of the Successor Agency to the now defunct community development agency.

"We'll bring (Council members) midyear adjustments to the budget…and say 'We recommend you adopt these changes to budget this year,'" Ewing said, adding that there is no schedule for a budget meeting yet.

According to the report, implementation of AB 1484 added steps and requirements that included retroactively changing the redevelopment agency (RDA) dissolution date from Feb. 1, 2012, to Oct.1, 2011. This change in date increased the amount of revenue loss to cities by requiring repayment of tax increment revenues that were paid to RDAs in December 2011. For Danville, this resulted in the loss of $1,056,199, immediately after the start of the new fiscal year.

The one agenda item not discussed on Friday was about expanding community partnerships. Officials ran out of time, Ewing said, and will bring up this topic at a future study session. Danville hosts study sessions every month and while there aren't official dates set to discuss workshop items, Ewing said he expects officials to return to the council with requested information in March or April.

To read the agenda and supporting documents from Friday's workshop, click here.

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