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Board reviews redlines to open-space enabling ordinance; members seek broader submission paths and minor wording changes
Summary
The Open Space Advisory Board reviewed proposed changes to its enabling ordinance, debated wording that governs the board's duties and submission process, and asked legal counsel to vet edits clarifying board scope, term limits and references to El Paso Water.
Board members reviewed a redlined draft of the open-space enabling ordinance and suggested edits to simplify duties, broaden who may bring items for review and update agency references.
The chair led discussion through the draft and proposed trimming language so the board’s duties read in plain terms: to "preserve, acquire, and promote usage and maintenance of open space." Members proposed striking several prescriptive clauses that tied agenda items to "relevant city departments," saying that phrasing could unintentionally exclude public submissions. One board member said the ordinance should either list examples ("such as items submitted by the public, conservation organizations and city departments") or be shorter and less prescriptive; the chair favored the shorter language.
Board members and staff also asked for consistency fixes (formatting and a naming update to refer to "El Paso Water" rather than "water utilities"). Several members asked legal counsel to confirm whether the ordinance should reference the city's general code on term limits; a board member cited city code section 2.04.050 and legal staff confirmed that the city code limits reappointment after two consecutive terms for regular members of ordinance-created boards.
On membership and appointment questions, members asked clerk/appointments staff to confirm whether filling an unexpired term counts toward the limit on consecutive terms; staff present said they would verify the applicable rules and return with a recommended text change if needed. The board agreed the draft should be further vetted with legal counsel and returned for final review.
No ordinance amendments were adopted by the board at this meeting; the discussion produced a set of proposed edits and direction to staff and counsel to refine the draft for a future meeting.
