LEWISTON – City officials will kick off their strategic planning effort Dec. 1 with a public brainstorming session at Montello School.

People who attend the meeting will be divided into small groups and asked to come up with lists of dreams for the city, opportunities and dilemmas they face.

“Then we’ll take that information back and fold it into our discussions,” said library Director Rick Speer, the chairman of the steering committee for the strategic plan.

The meeting will be hosted by Mayor Larry Gilbert and Council President Tom Peters. It’s scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m.

The meetings will be open to everyone who lives, works or uses Lewiston businesses.

The goal of the study is to identify Lewiston’s strengths and weaknesses as well as forecast possible opportunities and problems. The group is scheduled to present those to city councilors by Jan. 13. The final plan should plot a course for the city, and it should be wrapped up by March 10.

The process will include at least two other public brainstorming sessions, Speer said. The second meeting, not scheduled yet, will focus on dreams for Lewiston’s downtown and the problems it faces.