The Woodstock City Council will hold its annual planning retreat today and Saturday to discuss plans for the upcoming year.

“We’ll hear from each department head on what they’d like to see their departments achieve during the year,” Mayor Donnie Henriques said Thursday. “I’m hoping council makes some determinations on a few projects and moves forward on those.”

The retreat will begin at 1 p.m. at Magnolia Hall, 108 Arnold Mill Road in Woodstock, behind Magnolia Thomas Restaurant.

On Saturday, the mayor and council will begin the second day of the retreat at 8 a.m.

Niki Knox, a senior community economic development consultant with Georgia Electrical Membership Corp., will be the facilitator for this year’s retreat.

Today’s agenda includes discussion of future plans and projects, updates on ongoing projects, and the city’s proposed play for 2013-2018.

Saturday, the council will hear updates from department directors, determine top and high priorities for 2012 and have a final review and wrap-up.

At Monday night’s regular meeting of the mayor and council, Henriques delivered his annual State of the City address, claiming 2012 was a “banner year” for the city, the downtown area and economic development.

“If 2011 was the year that we turned the corner, 2012 will be remembered as the year that the pendulum swung to the positive in a major way for the city of Woodstock,” he said in his speech. “No matter what form of measurement you utilize, 2012 was the best year on record for quite a while for the city. That being said, we still face challenges to dig out of five years of recession and continue to move the city forward.”

The retreat is open to the public.