LELAND — Town of Leland administrative staff are recommending the town discontinue three of its advisory committees: Transportation Oversight, Public Safety, and Infrastructure. Each committee was created over the last five years and each has taken no action over the past year, according to a staff report created in August.
Combined, all three committees take up an estimated 150 hours of staff time a year (representing about 19 workdays). If cut, the move could free up staff hours and rededicate resources to action-related issues.
The role of these committees can be duplicative of staff resources already available, according to a memo on the recommendation prepared by Assistant Manager Niel Brooks.
Council would cut one-third of its nine total committees if it adopts staff’s recommendations. Just two, the Planning Board and the Leland Tourism Development Authority (because the town levies a Room Occupancy Tax) are statutorily required.
Explaining generally why the committees can sometimes create confusion for the public and staff, Brooks addressed how discussion topics can sometimes go awry:
“Occasionally board and committee members will bring up various concerns or ideas of the community or of members individually. This dialogue is welcome and encouraged, however opportunity for unnecessary conflict and misinformation can be created if an external constituency expects subsequent operational adjustments based purely on their suggestions instead of considering staff’s knowledge of information obtained through studies, best practices, and industry standards,” the memo states.
Planning Board ≠ BOA
The recommendation to reorganize the committees arose from a July 2019 Council request to prepare a report on all committees. Aside from discontinuing the town’s Transportation Oversight, Public Safety, and Infrastructure Committees, staff also recommends a new organizational structure for the Board of Adjustment.
Boards of Adjustment are tasked with holding quasi-judicial hearings that mimic a court setting and have high standards for presented material. These boards review appeals of decisions made by other town boards, including Council and Planning Board. In Wrightsville Beach, the town’s BOA is made up of the exact same members that occupy the Board of Alderman — presenting a major conflict of interest concern that the town has yet to address.
In Leland, Planning Board members serve as the five regular members of the BOA, according to the town memo. This could create a conflict of interest if the BOA were to review an appealed Planning Board decision, the memo points out. If Council adopts the recommended change, the town could seek to fill the entire board with new members next month.
Leland Town Council will consider committee reorganizations at its agenda meeting Monday, Feb. 17, beginning at 1 p.m. at Leland Town Hall.
View the full memo below:
Council Agenda Meeting – 17 Feb 2020 by Johanna Ferebee Still on Scribd
