Committee of the Whole

Committee-Of-The-Whole Meeting Minutes August 7, 2018 Mayor Nold called the Committee-of-the-Whole meeting to order at 7:10 PM. Members Present: Aldermen Miller, Rosek, Shaw, Ellis, Spiegelberg, Zwart, Strey and Kowieski Staff Present: Mayor Nold, Kitsembel, Freber, Gallo, Duffy, Pickart, Osborn, Frye, Pfister, Sullivan and Coenen 2. Discuss Organizational Membership of the Plan Commission Gallo reported State Statutes previously required that the City Engineer serve as a member of the Plan Commission (PC), however this requirement is no longer State law. Our code was drafted to mirror the prior law and it currently requires that the Mayor, who serves as the presiding officer; an Alderman; City Engineer; and four citizen members, of which not more than two reside in the same Aldermanic District, would make up the PC. Planning staff researched other communities and found a variety of membership requirements. Generally, the Mayor serves as the Chairman and at least one elected official serves on the Commission. From that point on, communities vary in having their Engineer, a Parks Board member, a Lake District representative, an Architectural Commission member, or a School District Board member serve on their PC. The most common make-up includes seven members, being the Mayor, one elected official and 5 citizen members. Gallo noted we are not locked into having seven members, and some communities have as many as nine PC members. If the City Engineer was removed from the membership, it would allow appointment of another citizen who would provide public feedback on development proposals. However, since the City Engineer serves as a valuable asset providing historical property information as well as technical knowledge that role could be changed to have the Engineer continue to attend the meetings to answer questions, but as a non-voting member, similar to the Planner’s role. Gallo asked the Committee if this change was viewed favorably and if so, staff would begin the process to amend our code. The Committee commented on the necessity of the City Engineer attending all PC meetings and agreed that agenda content would determine the necessity for attendance. Nold stated there is citizen interest to serve on the PC. The Committee-of-the-Whole agreed to move forward with the code revision. Motion by Shaw to adjourn the Committee-of-the-Whole meeting; second by Miller. Motion carried 8-0. The meeting adjourned at 7:25 PM. Minutes taken by Diane Coenen, City Clerk S:\Committees - Commissions\Committee-of-the-Whole\Minutes\2018\C-O-T-W Min 8-7-18.doc