TITLE: Title
Appointments to the Appearance Commission
PURPOSE: The purpose of this agenda item is to request that the Town Council consider appointments to the Appearance Commission
body
DEPARTMENT: Town Clerk
CONTACT INFORMATION: Wesley Barker, Town Clerk, wbarker@carrboronc.gov , 919-918-7309, Marty Roupe (staff liaison), mroupe@carrboronc.gov <mailto:mroupe@carrboronc.gov>, 919-918-7333
INFORMATION: The Appearance Commission is comprised of nine seats appointed by Town Council. All members of this Commission shall either reside, own property, or operate a business within Carrboro’s planning jurisdiction. The Commission currently has 6 vacant seats. These vacancies have been difficult to fill due to lack of applicants, and 2 appointed members have not consistently attended meetings that does not comply with the attendance policy set forth in the Town’s Advisory Board Recruitment and Appointment Policy. Due to these factors, the Commission has had difficulty achieving a quorum in recent months.
Two individuals have submitted applications to serve on this Commission.
It should be noted that one applicant, Ana Jafarinia, has been regularly attending Appearance Commission meetings, but after some research, Town Council minutes reflect that she was never formally appointed by the Council to this Commission. The Appearance Commission chair does recommend that Ms. Jafarinia be appointed formally to this Commission.
Additionally, a new application was received from Whitney Fry. The Appearance Commission Chair, David Markiewicz, assisted in recruitment of this applicant and has already met with her and submitted the chair form recommending her for appointment.
Further, current Appearance Commission member Sharon Reilly is up for reappointment for a second full term on the Appearance Commission. Ms. Reilly has indicated her interest to continue serving, and the chair form has been submitted recommending her reappointment.
If the Council makes the reappointment for Sharon Reilly and officially appoints the other two applicants (Ana Jafarinia and Whitney Fry), the Appearance Commission will then have 5 active members, and would subsequently have a quorum to conduct future meetings.
Attachments to this agenda item include the Resolution for Appointments (Attachment A), Applications and Chair Forms (Attachment B), and a current matrix of the Appearance Commission (Attachment C).
FISCAL & STAFF IMPACT: There is no fiscal or staff impact associated with this appointment request.
RECOMMENDATION:r Staff recommends that the Town Council review and consider reappointing Sharon Reilly for a second full term to the Appearance Commission, officially appoint Ana Jafarinia to the Commission, and consider appointing Whitney Fry to the Commission to achieve a quorum for future Commission meetings.