Plan Commission Minutes for June 26

It's my understanding that the Plan Commission of the City of Woodstock is scheduled to meet on Thursday, July 24, at 7:00PM (at City Hall) and that the proposed demolition of Grace Hall on the Woodstock Christian Life Services property is to be further discussed and considered.

For a summary of the June 26th meeting of the Plan Commission, read Jenn Wiant's article at http://nwherald.com/articles/2008/06/27/news/local/doc48647011197b5715928277.txt

How much notice should the public have of scheduled public hearings and those public hearings which are continued? How much trouble would it be for the City to post an announcement of the meeting and its agenda one week ahead of time? Busy people (residents) have busy schedules and, if they want to attend, they may have to move other appointments around.

And how about the Minutes of a prior meeting? The Minutes of the June meeting are not yet posted online. Should Minutes be posted well before the next meeting?

The City may explain that the Minutes have not been approved by the Commission and thus cannot be posted. Well, I say that the City could then post draft Minutes and allow the public some time to inspect them. If there is an error, the public can bring it up at the next meeting, if a Commissioner doesn't bring it up first.

This is called Government By The People, which is exactly the way it is supposed to be.

The public can examine the listing of Woodstock Boards and Commissions on the City's website and pick those of the highest interest to attend. Regularly scheduled meetings are posted.

The Open Meetings Act requires announcement of Special Meetings, and these are to be posted by the City on its website. To know of Special Meetings, you'll have to check the City's website frequently.

© 2008 GUS PHILPOTT