At the land-use agency meeting, staff presented a draft ordinance that would change the agency's membership and set term limits, and asked the board whether to proceed to city council. Staff proposed reducing the number of appointed voting members and adding ex officio positions such as the city manager, the city attorney and the development services director (or their designees); the draft sets two-year terms with a maximum of two consecutive terms and an effective date listed as 01/31/2026.

The proposal matters because it would change how the agency reaches quorum and how outside expertise is included. Staff said the rewrite is intended to make the committee more functional, easier to fill and to preserve participation from planning and code-enforcement staff by naming those positions as ex officio. The draft also proposes a transition mechanism that would appoint a holding board as of the ordinance's effective date to manage overlapping terms.

Board discussion focused on the proposed membership size, ex officio seats and residency. Staff recommended a smaller membership to reduce difficulties in reaching quorum; several board members said they preferred a larger appointed slate to improve reliability when absences occur. The group reached a working consensus in favor of seven appointed voting seats rather than the staff's initial suggestion of five. Members also discussed whether a majority of members should be city residents; staff noted the enabling legislation does not require a majority of members to be city residents and that voting actions are recorded as a majority of members present and voting.

On term limits, the draft calls for two-year terms with no more than two consecutive terms for appointed members (a maximum of four consecutive years before sitting out). Staff clarified that the limitation would operate prospectively from the ordinance's effective date. The draft names specific ex officio participants: city manager, city attorney, development services director or designee, and representatives from housing and development authorities (the document referenced the Fairmont Morgantown Housing Authority and MCDA as examples for agency participation).

Board members asked staff to clarify formatting and subsection references in the draft (members noted missing or misnumbered subsections on the paperwork) and to define whether prior service counts toward the consecutive-term limit. Staff said the ordinance as drafted would apply the limit prospectively and would allow council to reappoint current members if it chose to do so.

Direction: the board instructed staff to revise the ordinance to reflect board preferences (seven appointed seats, specified ex officio roles, the two-term limit applied prospectively), correct formatting issues, and forward the revised draft to the city council for consideration with the proposed effective date of 01/31/2026. No final vote on the ordinance was taken at the meeting.

Next steps: staff will prepare the corrected draft for council and return any further clarifications to the board before council consideration.