East Bethel council votes to reduce EDA from seven to five members, appoints two councilmembers

The East Bethel City Council approved resolutions on May 12 to amend the city's Economic Development Authority (EDA) founding documents, reducing the authority from seven voting members to five and appointing two councilmembers to vacant seats.

The change stems from expiring terms and legal advice that allows councilmembers to fill EDA seats after required terms end. The council voted to adopt Resolution 2025-20 to amend the enabling EDA resolution and later approved Resolution 2025-21 to add two councilmembers to the authority.

Resident Karen Krepas spoke during the reopened public hearing, saying she was concerned the change would phase out public members. "If it is to be that the EDA council will be abolished and there's no public members, I'm looking at this group in front of me and I'm not so sure I have confidence in how you lead these Bethel forward," Krepas said. City staff explained that the change follows legal notice requirements and that appointments can occur only after current public members' terms expire. Staff presented two options earlier in the process: renew incumbents or shift membership to include more elected officials.

Council discussion reviewed the EDA's history. City staff and the city attorney identified that the enabling resolution was adopted in 2008 and amended later (records cited include an enabling resolution on 07/16/2008 and a bylaw entry dated 05/20/2013; counsel also referenced an amendment dated 08/17/2011). One councilmember said the switch to a seven-member board appeared to have occurred in 2013; the city attorney noted the enabling resolution adopted in 2008 and an August 2011 amendment in council records.

A motion to modify the current EDA membership to appoint councilmembers to vacant seats, thereby changing the authority from seven to five, was moved and seconded and carried by a 3-2 vote when the council adopted Resolution 2025-20. The council then appointed two councilmembers to the EDA by approving Resolution 2025-21; the mayor named the two appointees and the council approved the appointments without recorded opposition.

The council and staff said the new membership composition will be four councilmembers and three public members until the public members' terms expire; at that point the councilmembers would fill the vacancies and the authority would be a five-member body. Staff emphasized that the city provided the longer notice required for amending a founding document.

The council did not adopt any separate policy language in the resolutions limiting future public engagement on EDA business; the change alters only the membership structure as reflected in the amended enabling resolution. The council directed that the resolutions and related founding documents be placed in the record and moved on to subsequent agenda items.