Council debates easing formalities for boards and commissions; legal limits cited for P&Z and building standards

Council Member Stevens asked the City Council Feb. 17 to consider changing city ordinances so that volunteer boards and commissions could continue workshop business and make recommendations to council even when a quorum is not present.

"I've not done a lot of work to look and say how we would change the ordinance because it would require a number of ordinance changes," Stevens said, adding that the change would not alter membership but would allow boards that lack a quorum to proceed with their work and still forward recommendations to council.

City Attorney Cynthia (last name not stated) told council the Planning and Zoning Commission and the Building and Standards Commission are governed by the Texas Open Meetings Act (TOMA) and Local Government Code provisions and must meet TOMA requirements. She also advised that changes by ordinance are possible but that staff should include public hearing(s) before adopting changes to avoid the appearance of reduced transparency.

Cynthia and other staff suggested practical alternatives council could consider, including appointing alternate members to fill in when regular members are absent and reducing the overall size of some boards to make quorums easier to achieve. Staff said the city’s existing board sizes are relatively large for Alpine’s population and that alternates or a smaller membership could improve reliability.

“Frequently…there's actions that they would need to take before it comes to us. But if a board or commission doesn't have a quorum, they can't take action and they cannot make a recommendation to us,” Stevens said. Staff agreed to return with ordinance options for council consideration, public‑hearing steps and proposed language.

Council did not take immediate action; staff said they would return with a set of options, including ordinance language and outreach steps.