A lawsuit over the request to paint a building on Fort Thomas Avenue.
A question of who should approve those who serve on boards and commissions.
Now, Fort Thomas city leaders are taking a look at how boards and commissions are made up in the city and whether any changes need to be made. A Wednesday morning Law, Labor and License Committee, along with a planning commission meeting Wednesday night, is going to do just that.
But let’s back up.
Review is underway
Once Fort Thomas City Administrator Matt Kremer, who joined the city last spring, had settled into his position, he announced he would take a look at the city’s code of ordinances with an eye toward updating and clarifying.
At about the same time, Council Member Adam Blau reviewed some of the ordinances concerning the city’s various boards and commissions. A member of one of the boards had recently moved out of town, and he said he wanted to find out what the rules were. As he looked further into the ordinances, he found that certain commissions and boards required council approval of appointments, while others did not.
State law requires appointments of members to planning and zoning commissions, boards of adjustment and design review boards be voted upon by council. Other boards, such as a tree board, only require an appointment by the mayor.
Blau discovered that a recent reappointment to the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission had gone through without a council vote. Longtime member and vice chair, Dan Gorman, had been appointed by the mayor, but the appointment was not voted upon by council.
The situation meant Gorman could not serve until the council had a vote on his reappointment. It was brought to the attention of the full council in February. Since the ordinance review was underway, council voted to hold off on the vote until after the review.
A focused look at boards
Although not a part of the discussion on ordinances, at a recent meeting of the Design Review Board someone questioned the number of members on the board. The board currently has an even number — six — and this had led to tie decisions over the past year. An odd number could make decisions clearer.
“There is some discrepancy in the some of the language, and we’ve been talking about updating some of the language as well with our zoning code update and getting back to perhaps five or seven,” said General Services Director Kevin Barbian.
Questions of who can be on boards and commissions, how they are appointed and/or approved, the number of members and other items could be a part of the review.
At this point, the Law, Labor and License Committee of council, as well as the city administrator, are looking over city ordinances in an effort to bring them up to date and to clarify some of these issues.
The committee meets Wednesday evening, and on the agenda are reviews of sections of city Ordinance 36 pertaining to the Planning Commission, Board of Adjustments and the Design Review Board. A recommendation from the committee is expected for an upcoming council meeting.