TEXAS TOWNSHIP, PA — While it is still able to perform its duties at present, the Texas Township Planning Commission has some administrative issues the township is working to address, including …
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TEXAS TOWNSHIP, PA — While it is still able to perform its duties at present, the Texas Township Planning Commission has some administrative issues the township is working to address, including a diminished membership and a missing authorizing ordinance.
Planning commissions in Pennsylvania act as advisory boards to their parent municipalities, in this case the Texas Township Board of Supervisors. While final decision-making power rests with the board of supervisors, the planning commission oversees and makes recommendations on development projects that come before the township.
To have a planning commission, a municipality must pass an ordinance creating one.
While Texas Township must have done this at one point, it can’t find a copy of that establishing ordinance to prove that it happened.
“I went back a little bit and I found something in the minutes from 25 years ago, was it?” said Texas Township Secretary Joanne Hancock. She said that according to former secretary John Haggity, “There was, in fact, an ordinance—we just can’t find it.”
The board of supervisors discussed its options at its January 6 meeting. If the township can’t find the existing ordinance, it can make a new one and re-appoint the existing members to staggered terms, the board discussed.
The planning board’s membership also proved a point of contention at that January 6 meeting.
The planning commission had five members as of earlier this year. While it is unclear how many members are provided for in the missing ordinance, the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development says that planning commissions can generally contain between three and nine members.
Two members of the Texas Township Planning Commission resigned this year, leaving three—the minimum number—currently active.
The planning commissioners recommended that the board of supervisors appoint two replacement members. While supervisors made encouraging noises about the need to appoint replacement members, the board chose to table the recommendations.
“We really don’t have to pick any, because three is an acceptable number,” said chief supervisor Dan Weidner, suggesting to table it to give his fellow supervisors time to think about it.
Planning commissioner Marty Erk said he was “curious” why the board wouldn’t appoint additional members to the board.
“I can’t imagine it would be a money issue—you’re paying $35 a person, so a couple hundred dollars a month,” he said. “So I would be curious to know what the reasoning would be not to accept the recommendation.”
At a follow-up meeting held January 20, the board of supervisors agreed to keep the planning commission at five members, according to Hancock.
Planning commission members and supervisors largely agreed on the case for appointing more than the minimum number of people to the planning commission. Particularly, they agreed, having more members avoids the possibility of projects being held up if some members can’t make it to a meeting.
At least two members must be present at a meeting to form a quorum.
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