The Volusia County Charter Review Commission narrowed a 16-item staff-drafted package of proposed charter amendments on Wednesday, moving two items out of the immediate ballot draft and creating three subcommittees to refine and consolidate the remaining proposals.

Chair Mark Watts opened the meeting by telling members staff had translated previous discussions into draft language and that the group would not necessarily approve final ballot wording that night. The commission then turned to questions over how many separate amendments to present to voters, with several members warning that a long slate of questions could depress passage rates.

“I'm gonna ask Mister Dyer in a minute to kind of talk about some of these that may be able to be combined,” Watts said as the body moved into detailed review. Commissioners focused on consolidation, single-subject constraints for ballot questions and whether housekeeping updates (for example, department director language) should be combined into a single implementation amendment.

After deliberation, the commission considered specific motions. Commissioner Johnson moved to remove draft amendment 15 (which would have added cultural-funding and arts language to the charter); the motion was amended so the commission would withdraw item 15 from the ballot package but include a strong recommendation that the county council support cultural priorities in the commission's recommendation letter. The commission approved the amended motion by voice vote.

Commissioners also debated item 16, a proposal aimed at interlocal coordination for infrastructure and flood response. Several members praised the concept but questioned whether charter language or interlocal agreements would be a more effective tool. A motion to move item 16 off the ballot and put its concept into the recommendation letter passed, though a few members opposed doing so.

To continue detailed work, the commission formed three subcommittees: a government-structure and housekeeping committee (to address form-of-government issues, implementation of Amendment 10 changes, council composition and related housekeeping); a conservation/environmental committee (to refine proposals about disposition and protection of conservation lands and other public-suggested environmental items); and a drafting/recommendation committee (to assemble the commission's recommendation letter and any non-ballot suggestions).

Chair Watts said he would work with staff to appoint committee chairs and that all committee meetings would be noticed publicly to comply with the Sunshine Law. He asked commissioners interested in serving to coordinate with staff so meetings could be scheduled before the next full session.

Next steps: staff will continue drafting consolidated amendment language for the commission to review, subcommittees are expected to meet in the coming weeks, and the commission will revisit ballot packaging and ballot-summary language at a future meeting.