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City Council Study Session 1VIonday, August 20, 2007 Page 4 iscussi®n seeiflc t® the Steering C® ittee Mr. Marrow's comments specific to the proposed steering committee was the recommendation of each and all of the firms recommending creation of one, while not mandated by the state, to serve as a liaison between citizens, the City Council and staff, and serving a critical check and balance function during the process, editing and reviewing text before Public Hearings to make sure the consultant and staff were on task. - Planning Chair Mary Bakeman, at the request of Mayor Klausing, in- troduced Planning Comnussioners present; and spoke in favor of crea- tion of a steering committee, noting the expertise brought to the dis- cussion from each of the proposed representatives, and their value to the process, in order to understand all the fine points needed for up- dating the Comprehensive Plan. Chair Bakeman further noted that, just as the City Council had many agenda items to contend with, the Planning Commission was experi- enced similar issues, and noted that the Comprehensive Plan was ex- tensive in many different facets, and a steering conlmi.ttee could inte- grate all the pieces fit together consistently and was not a duplicative or redundant document. Councilmember Ihlan opined that a steering committee decision be made with the input of the chosen consultant; expressed frustration that the City Council had yet to receive any proposals; and further opined that the process was inverted, and the consultant needed to be chosen before a steering committee was selected. Mayor Klausing noted that staff advised that all three (3) firms had mentioned use of a steering committee; and noted timing issues with further delays. Mr. Darrow noted that it delaying a decision on the steering commit- tee until the August 27, 2007 meeting would not delay the process dramatically; however cautioned that any further delay would become problematic.