A Drake University-educated consultant and economist this morning rolled out a vision plan that urges West Des Moines to pursue new tax revenue to keep its high bond ratings, create a couple of new advisory panels to guide development, become a tech center, and ensure a high quality of life that will help lure high-growth businesses.

Fortunately, the consultant, Next Generation Consulting Inc. founder Rebecca Ryan, gave the suburb until 2036 to get all that done.

Look for the city to lobby the Iowa Legislature for the power to have its own local option sales tax, a special hotel-motel tax, or both, said City Manager Tom Hadden, one of the drivers behind the WDM 2036 plan backed by the city and the West Des Moines Chamber of Commerce. And it’s likely the suburb will soon appoint both an advisory panel of education, business and government leaders and another, broader committee charged with making sure the quality of life in West Des Moines remains high. The report also recommends the city to look into creating a citywide fiber network offering citywide Wi-Fi, and to develop into a tech center, perhaps with expanded higher-education offerings.

Ryan, of Madison, Wis., said the suburb is “good and could be great” if it makes sure it has enough money to offer services, caters to the needs of the burgeoning business community and its recreation-minded workers and job candidates, and uses carefully selected advisory committees to keep the city focused on taking calculated risks.

What type of risks? Ryan, who used to work for Iowa’s economic development department,  loves the story of an out-of-town businessman coming into Valley Junction in 1915 to build a racetrack out of wood, with seating for 10,000 people. It was one of 24 in the country and quite a draw. When it closed after a fatal accident, the wood was used to build structures in Valley Junction.

The story “speaks to the city’s openness to outsiders, its willingness to take risks, and — if things don’t work out as planned — its ability to repurpose what has value,” Ryan wrote an open letter to the suburb. “… It’s in the DNA of West Des Moines to experiment and reinvent.”

The suburb that brought the region the Jordan Creek Town Center, booming office developments and a large park system will continue to thrive if it does these six things, Ryan said in the report, which drew from a survey of 40 community leaders:

• Appoint a Leadership Advisory Board of government, education and business leaders to help set community priorities.
• Pursue new revenue sources and public-private partnerships to keep the city, which now has the top bond rating available, financially strong. That could include a city local option tax or a “pillow tax” at hotels and motels if the Legislature agrees to allow them.
• Continue to measure and promote the quality of life, with the help of a quality of life advisory committee.
• Make sure the city is ready for climate change and poised for sustainability, in part by mapping infrastructure projects and needs, protecting natural areas, setting new development policies and boosting greenway connections and developments.
• Consider new technology initiatives, including a revenue-producing all-city fiber network aimed in part at boosting small business growth.
• Improve the workforce with a new incubator focused on technology and the arts, and broad efforts to make the city recession-proof by luring high-growth industries.