Agenda - 04-04-2023; 8-a - Minutes

Browse Search

22 1 Chair Bedford asked if a transcript should be provided by an independent company. She 2 said that a transcript seems that it would not be as accurate as a recording. She asked if it is 3 prescribed in the LIDO what a transcript might look like. 4 Cy Stober said it is not. He read from the LIDO what is required in the transcript. He said 5 staff can find that a transcript is insufficient, based on the recording. 6 Chair Bedford asked if staff would be required to review the recording. 7 Cy Stober said that is the intention, although it is not reflected in the text. 8 9 Commissioner Greene made a motion to open the public hearing, seconded by 10 Commissioner Fowler. 11 12 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 13 14 There was no one signed up to speak for the public hearing. 15 16 Vice-Chair McKee made a motion to close the public hearing, seconded by Commissioner 17 Hamilton. 18 19 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 20 21 Commissioner Hamilton thanks staff for bringing this forward. She said that it makes sense 22 that the developer would be charged with presenting this to the community. She said that she 23 leans toward having a staff person there. She said trust in government and developers is slim. 24 She said having staff there means someone can observe the whole environment. She said there 25 may be parts of the NIM that aren't captured by the recording. 26 Vice-Chair McKee said it allows staff to serve as eyes and ears to ensure oversight of the 27 process. 28 Commissioner Greene said there is some benefit of not having anyone from the county 29 there. She said either amendment would be better than the status quo, but her preference is the 30 Planning Director's recommendation. 31 Commissioner Portie-Ascott asked if there were instances of meetings being contentious 32 and if staff knows how to handle those situations. She asked if it would put staff in an awkward 33 situation. 34 Bonnie Hammersley said this issue was one of the issues she discussed with Cy Stober 35 when he was hired. She said it has been a big problem. She said there was a public perception 36 that the county was running the meeting and was in favor of the project. She said for people 37 unfamiliar with county government, the role of staff, even in an observational capacity, make it 38 confusing for the public because it is the developer that is running the meeting. She said the NIM 39 is to inform the neighborhood about the project. She said there are many instances where staff 40 will be available to the public to answer questions. She said that planning staff were demonized 41 by some unpopular projects, because they were presenting projects and running the NIMs. She 42 said negative comments were directed at certain people. She said it gets political when there's a 43 misunderstanding. She said that her role is to insulate staff from politics and it gets political when 44 there is a misunderstanding of the role that staff is playing. 45 Commissioner Richards said it is interesting other municipalities don't have staff present. 46 She said it is a responsibility for the developer to engage with neighbors. She said that it may free 47 staff to do more value added discussions with the developer. She said it should be seen as an 48 opportunity for the developer. She said the Bucee's proposal stands out in her mind and how 49 staff got hammered by the community.