Wietecha: "Council determination "Independent"

(Ed.note: The following is a portion of the minutes from the meeting of the whole from last Saturday at the UBT)
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6. Legal refresher. Wietecha reviewed a couple procedural concerns for conducting public hearings. In a quasi-judicial role, the Plan Commission or Common Council should not be deliberating on the merits of an application until after the public hearing has been closed. This can be addressed by changing how public hearings are presented on the agenda. The Council’s decision on an application is independent from the Plan Commission recommendation; therefore, the Council should explicitly document its findings before making a motion to approve or deny an application. This also can be addressed by changing how public hearings are presented on the agenda."

The Evansville Common Council has considered two building projects totalling 5 million dollars, the Senior/Community Center as well as the Fire Station and both are sited on high water areas.

I would take the comments from the Committee of the Whole by Mr. Witecha to mean that the Council has the responsibilty to make an independent determination and not merely rubber stamp the Plan Commission findings.