At the land use agency board meeting, staff presented a draft ordinance that would reorganize the agency’s appointed membership, add ex officio positions and create two‑year term limits for appointed members. Board members discussed the proposal and asked staff to refine the language before forwarding it to city council for approval.

Staff summarized the draft and said it would reduce the number of appointed members from the current structure and add ex officio participation by city officials and partner agencies. The draft would add the city manager as an automatic member and list nonvoting ex officio positions including the city attorney and the development services director (or that director’s designee). Staff also recommended ex officio participation by representatives from the Fairmont Morgantown Housing Authority and the Monongalia County Development Authority (MCDA). The draft sets two‑year terms for appointed members with no more than two consecutive terms; staff wrote an effective date of 01/31/2026 and proposed a transitional “holding board” to manage rotating initial term lengths.

Board members debated whether some agency representatives should be voting members or nonvoting ex officio members. Several members said they valued outside expertise from housing and development authorities but were skeptical that nonvoting representatives would attend regularly if they could not vote. Board members also discussed whether a majority of voting members should be city residents; some said that requiring a majority of residents could limit access to specialized expertise, while others said council might be politically reluctant to have a majority of nonresidents voting on city matters.

On membership count, staff presented alternatives reducing appointed seats to five and an alternative with seven. Board members coalesced around the larger option (seven appointed seats) to reduce quorum risk and preserve broader expertise, but no formal council vote on the ordinance was taken. Board members asked staff to clarify whether prior terms would count toward the new consecutive‑term limit; staff advised the limitation would operate prospectively from the ordinance effective date.

Next steps: staff will revise the ordinance draft according to the board’s feedback, clarify numbering and cross‑references in the document, and bring the revised ordinance forward to city council for formal adoption. The board did not adopt the ordinance at the meeting; final legal changes and appointments will require council action.