Council reviews draft ordinance to create tourism commission, debates membership and spending cap

The Chair opened discussion of a draft ordinance to revise the municipal code and establish a tourism (hotel‑motel) commission. The committee member presenting the draft said much of the language follows a state statute and asked councilors to review the proposed structure. "Adi, you have your draft ordinance here that's put together," the committee member said.

Councilors discussed membership and appointments. The presenting council member described a proposed commission of four to six members with one required to represent the hotel/motel industry. Councilors questioned whether the mayor or the council should recommend members and agreed the ordinance language is inconsistent in places and needs cleanup before a final vote.

The council debated term length and spending authority. One councilor questioned whether one‑year terms are sufficient and said a proposed provision requiring that "Dollars 15,000 shall be brought to the common council" for approval appeared high. Other members compared that threshold with a prior decision for the harbor commission, where the limit was set at $10,000 during an organizational meeting; several councilors said they preferred consistent thresholds across commissions.

The council asked staff to reconcile the draft with the relevant state statute and to return with clearer language on appointment authority, term lengths and the recommended spending threshold. No formal motion or vote on the ordinance was recorded in the transcript; councilors signaled they would place a cleaned‑up version on a future agenda for further consideration.