HomeMy WebLinkAbout10.F.1. Advisory Commissions Futures (F)General Business 10. F. 1.
S 3
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Mark McNeill, City Administrator
DATE: 01/21/2014
SUBJECT: Advisory Commission Futures (F)
Action Sought
The Council is asked to discuss the future of three advisory commissions- - the
Transit Commission; Historic Preservation Advisory Commission and Telecommunications
Advisory Commission.
Background
The Council is asked to review the current array of City advisory boards and commissions prior to
interviewing candidates for new terms and open seats in early February.
Background
The City currently has eight advisory boards and commissions, not including the Shakopee Public
Utilities Commission. These include:
1. Planning Commission / Board of Adjustment and Appeals
2. Park & Recreation Advisory Board
3. Economic Development Advisory Committee
4. Police Civil Service Commission
5. Environmental Advisory Committee
6. Transit Commission
7. Historic Preservation Advisory Commission
8. Telecommunications Advisory Commission
At this time, staff believes three commissions in particular warrant discussion:
Transit Commission: With the impending merger with Minnesota Valley Transit Authority, the
City will have a representative on the MVTA Board. Absent the Blue Xpress operation, there are
few local issues for residents to provide input. Recently, there has been little for the Transit
Commission to do.
Historic Preservation Advisory Commission: Previous City Councils have considered three
times the HPAC's recommendation to establish an historic preservation ordinance. However, the
Councils have declined to do this. Without an enforcement ordinance such as that, the HPAC has
little to discuss.
Telecommunications Advisory Commission: At one time, this Commission had control over
the franchise fee revenue received from Comcast cable and the Commission set policies for
operation of the Public Access Channel. Today, franchise fee revenue is allocated to the General
Fund and the public access channel has been shut down for lack of community interest. The TAC
has been on an every-other month meeting schedule since 2011, and even with that, it has not met
since July due to a lack of agenda items.
All three of these groups have had meetings canceled frequently due to a lack of agenda items. It
may be the best use of everyone's time, including the residents who have volunteered their time to
sit on these, to discontinue their formal appointment. If the commissions are to be " re- purposed"
for a similar, but different purpose, consideration should be given to whether or not new
membership is to be sought. Otherwise, should something significant arise that does require
public input, it is possible that an ad hoc committee could be appointed for that reason - -an
example would be the recent Website Advisory Task Force.
Recommendation
Based on the lack of substantive agenda items for these three groups, Staffs recommendation is to
discontinue the Transit Commission, the Historic Preservation Advisory Commission, and the
Telecommunications Advisory Commission, effective March 1, 2014. March 1st is the date that
the terms of appointed members would normally expire.
Budget Impact
None.
Relationship To Visioning
This is a housekeeping item. (F)
Requested Action
If the Council concurs, it should move to disband the Transit Commission, Historic Preservation
Advisory Commission and Telecommunications Advisory Commission, and extend its gratitude
to the volunteers who sat on those Commissions for their time and service to the City.
Attachments: