Committee recommends City Council dissolve Community Development Advisory Board; staff calls change a cleanup item

The Economic Development Plan Review Committee voted May 9 to recommend that the City Council dissolve the Community Development Advisory Board and remove related ordinance language (Chapter 2, Article V, Division 2).

Committee member Tyler moved to advance language recommending dissolution and to elevate that bullet into the committee’s primary recommendations; the motion was seconded and the committee approved forwarding the recommendation to council.

Staff and committee members said the advisory board had not been active for several years after sales-tax reallocation removed community facilities funds from the ordinance (staff recalled the change in February 2019). Staff described the motion as a ‘‘cleanup’’ that removes an inactive committee from city code unless the council elects to restore or re‑fund the program.

Discussion also touched on whether the city should reestablish a community facilities funding bucket in the future; staff and the park district noted there remains interest, but that flood-control funding commitments and other capital priorities make new dedicated city funding unlikely in the near term. Staff explained that current sales-tax allocations include dedicated shares for flood control and NAS (North American project referenced) obligations, which limit the capacity to reallocate funds in the short term.

The committee’s recommendation will be forwarded to City Council for ordinance cleanup or further deliberation.