Agenda - 01-24-2013 - 7a - Laserfiche WebLink

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41 report back to them and they are waiting on that. She said that there are two community members on the task force, and if the task force no longer meets, then the community members are left out of the conversation. Council Member Pease said that they need to disentangle the two issues and say that the task force has finished phase I, whatever that is, and let the attorneys and managers work out the legal issues for the community center. He said that his fear of continuing the task force with its current process is that it is going to be somewhat of a new makeup. He would be afraid that it might be slowed down or there may be other agendas with new members joining it. He suggested getting to the end of the conversation on the community center and then starting a phase 2 with new members and tackling the sewer issues. Council Member Storrow said that none of these ideas are in opposition to each other. He said that it seems like if the task force is stopped, the community center would probably still get built. Regardless of the structure, he thinks that the community center is finished. There are more structural questions than philosophical. He said that there should be some mechanism to continue a conversation. He said that if the task force is totally dismantled then some of the sewer questions may not be answered. Council Member Ward said that if Council Member Pease agreed with Commissioner Rich then now he does also. He said that this task force has been very effective and the membership will be changed, and it is appropriate to rehash. He said that the Board of County Commissioners is in control of setting the agenda for the task force. He said that the community center is now checked off the list and is now in the hands of staff. He feels confident to take the center off the list and then let the task force tackle these other issues and keep the community members on it, whichever form it may take. Alderman Slade said that the task force should be kept intact. He said that the community center is a done deal. He said that there is a lot of work to be done with the sewer. He strongly supports continuing with this effective task force. Commissioner Rich said that at the beginning of the task force for the first two months, they were read the charge. She thinks that the task force has fulfilled the charge and if the task force is asked to continue, the charge must be changed. Commissioner McKee said that the task force should continue with the current members. There are three members whose situations have changed, but the community has not changed. He said that the charge of the task force was not to make sure that any governmental entity came out on the better end of the deal. The charge was to ensure that the community came out on the better end. The members of the task force as it is currently constructed have spent almost a year working on this. He suggested leaving this task force constructed as it is with the current members as they are unless they have other obligations to prevent them from being able to attend. Alderman Gist said that she supported continuing with the task force because it gives the staff and elected bodies someone to talk to about the issues. She would like the task force continue to address the community center issue and the continuing costs of operating the center and other unknowns. Mayor Chilton said that he agreed with Aldermen Gist. He said that this task force was created by the Board of County Commissioners and the reality is that the County Commissioners need to decide how it moves forward. Chair Jacobs said that it has been helpful to hear everything. He said that he has brought up the issue of gentrification several times, but it was not discussed in detail and was not part of the charge of the task force. If the task force goes forward, the charge should be revised.