Governance Committee 2014 Annual Report

University Area Commission – Governance Committee

Annual Report – 2014 Commission Year

Members (Attendance: P=Present, E= Excused, A= Absent): Sharon Young (P=11), Lucas Dixion (P=5, E=2, Resigned Oct-14), Jim Bach (P=9, E=1, A=1), Doreen Uhas-Sauer (P=11), Terra Goodnight (P=6, E=4,A=1), Colin Odden [ (P=10, E=1), Jennifer Mankin [Started May-14] (P=6, E=1, A=1), Steve Volkman [Started Dec-11] (P=2),  and David Hegley, Chairperson (P=11)  There were 11 Meetings this Commission year, The July meeting was canceled for due to July 4th Holiday.

 

The Governance Committee had a moderately successful year and I would like to extend my gratitude for everyone’s hard work and dedication to the responsibilities of this committee.  Below is a summary of the key activities for this year.

 

1.  The Governance Committee with the support of Commissioners Keeny and Oden, scanned and saved a copy of the Commissioner handbook which is now available on the University Area Commission website.

·       https://universityarea.org/committees/governance/uac-commissioner-handbook/

2.  The largest amount of work that was done by the Committee this year was through and at times exhaustive review with thoughtful discussion on how best to change the by laws surrounding the how the Commission handles zoning cases.  Seven of the eleven months were dedicated to this process which produced the following changes to the by laws:

Article IV, Section 7, Paragraph d:

d.      The following time limits and order will be adhered to for all zoning cases heard before the commission:

1.     Zoning Committee presents the facts of the case 5 Min (max)

2.     Applicant presentation 7 Min (max)

3.     Zoning Committee report 5 Min (max)

4.     Public Comment (max 3 people each pro/con): 2 Min each (max)

·       Only those who complete speaker slips prior to the case being heard will be considered for speaking based on the order the slips were received

5.     Commission discussion Commissioner who wishes may speak once per round for 1 Min (max) for 2 rounds

·       A commissioner cannot save time for their second round or transfer their remaining time to someone else.

6.     Applicant response 3 min (max)

7.     Commission vote

8.     The zoning committee chairperson or designee will provide a copy of this section to each zoning applicant prior to his or her appearance at a commission meeting.

 

3.   Work was started on how to create a document that would explain the hardship requirement of a zoning variance.  Additional research is necessary and a possible review by the City Attorney’s office may be necessary before a document is published to the Commission.

4.   The Committee also spent some time discussion how to handle the storage of UAC documents to ensure they are conform to the City of Columbus document retention policy and are easy to retrieve if requested by the public.  While we have some good ideas for this, additional work will be required next Commission year.

5.   Discussion on the Ohio Sunshine Law surrounding open meetings requirements was discussed due to concerns from an area resident.

·       Majority of Members (Ohio Sunshine laws 2014)  For there to be a “meeting” as defined under the Open Meetings Act, “a majority of a public body’s members must come together.”820 The term “majority” applies not only to the entire body, but also to any committee or subcommittee of that body.821 For instance, if a council is comprised of seven members, four would constitute a majority in determining whether the council as a whole is a “meeting.” However, if the council appoints a three-member finance committee, two of those members would constitute a majority of the finance committee.

6.   The final area the Committee focused on was the by law language surrounding the Organization and Group Commissioner seats.  No formal by law change was brought to the UAC this year but by law language changes were proposed and approved at the December meeting which the Committee hopes to bring to the full Commission early in 2015.

 

Respectfully Submitted,

 

David Hegley, Chairperson

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