Minutes-05-16-2023-Business Meeting

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38 Tom Altieri said that the steering committee would need to discuss the question. Commissioner Fowler asked if the Board would have access to the public input prior to their interviews with the project managers. Tom Altieri said one of the tools being used is the project website. He said it is set up for public engagement, and not just as a repository for documents and meeting notes. He said it provides a way to interact more and that it will be a key tool for the community and advisory board input. Commissioner Hamilton asked who the consultant was for the last comprehensive plan. Tom Altieri said it was also Clarion Associates. Commissioner Hamilton asked who was on the previous steering committee. Tom Altieri said there wasn't a formal steering committee. He said at that time the Planning Board created the timeline and process. He said advisory boards had a lead role in the comprehensive planning process. He said the Planning Board played a large role. He said in preparing for this process, staff interviewed other Planning departments. He said that these other Planning departments said that the process often resulted in meeting fatigue. Commissioner Hamilton asked about the role of the Board of County Commissioners in the creation of the previous plan. Tom Altieri said that the Board held public hearings and were provided updates throughout the process. Commissioner Hamilton said she has concerns about the steering committee being predominantly staff. She said that she would like to consider having commissioners on the steering committee. Tom Altieri said that the composition is something they can continue to discuss with the County Manager's office. He said that it was not left out of the presentation, itjust was not depicted in the proposal. He said that his professional experience is that 15 members is about right for the steering committee. He said that if you get more than that, there is less interaction. He said this is the pleasure of the board. Commissioner Hamilton asked if the three rounds of meetings with the Planning Board and the Board of Commissioners would be together or separate. Tom Altieri said that they would be at regular meetings and separate. He said the scope of services mentions up to two public hearings at the end of the process. He said that he thought there was potential for a joint work session between the Planning Board and the Board of County Commissioners. Commissioner Hamilton said she would like to see an example of a more user-friendly comprehensive plan. Tom Altieri said he would send that information to the Board. He said there is a trend in many of the plans where they are becoming more concise. He said the current plan is segmented, but it is well over 300 pages and 2 inches thick. He said Wake County's is less than 50 pages. Vice-Chair McKee said his primary concern is keeping the public engaged in a long planning process. Tom Altieri said there will be community engagement throughout the process and a grassroots level campaign will be deployed. He said without community engagement in the last process, it would have taken longer to get the plan adopted. Vice-Chair McKee said he had concerns about unintended consequences. He said that decisions like the Rural Buffer had adverse effects on the agriculture community. He said that he has concerns over personal property rights. He said he does not want the Planning Board to be the lead on this process due to recent issues at Planning Board meetings. Bonnie Hammersley said the role of the steering committee is to make sure that information is going out to their networks of people. He said there will be no decisions made by the committee. He said the goal is to help with outreach. She said it is all staff because it is a staff working group that is carrying the load of making sure the gets done. She said the Board of