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Commission discusses Plat Committee membership, meeting time; proposal to change rules tabled
Summary
Planning staff reported a Plat Committee vacancy and proposed flexible membership language; commissioners debated reducing the committee from five to three members and changing the meeting time, then decided not to adopt rule changes at this meeting and left potential changes for a future discussion.
Planning staff told the Monroe County Planning Commission that a Plat Committee member vacancy had arisen after a staff/citizen member moved for employment reasons and another member had left, leaving the committee short of guaranteed citizen representation. Staff proposed a rules-and-procedure change to allow either a Plat Committee of five members (1–3 citizen members) or a three-member committee (up to one citizen member) so the committee can continue meeting when several members are unavailable.
Commissioners debated the trade-offs. Commissioner Julie Thomas said she opposed reducing the committee to three members because “important decisions” are made at Plat Committee and she preferred more voices. Several commissioners suggested changing the meeting day or time (currently the third Thursday at 4 p.m.) to better accommodate citizen appointees who must travel or work at that hour. One commissioner volunteered to serve as a citizen appointee if needed.
Staff and commissioners agreed that because they had a workable short-term staffing and membership solution they would not adopt the proposed rules changes at this meeting. Planning staff said they would “put this in our back pocket” and return with the issue if quorum problems or additional vacancies occur. No formal rule change motion was made; the commission later appointed Jeff Morris to fill the immediate vacancy (see Votes at a glance).
