Manhattan Mayor Wynn Butler discussed his recommendations for appointment to the Law Board Tuesday.
“Based on all of the discussion that I heard this year about changing the makeup on it (law Board), I’m convinced that we should put at least one qualified citizen on the board,” Butler said.
Commissioner, Rich Jankovich said although the State Statute allows for non-elected officials to serve on the board, he would rather see a Commissioner fill that role so they can be held accountable.
“I believe that the Commissioners are accountable to the voters and to the tax-payers of the City and so it makes it much more important in that position,” Jankovich said “but it does go back to the budget issue because that’s give or take 65 percent of our mill budget.”
Commissioner, Karen McCulloh was left off of Butler’s slate of recommendations and she voiced her concern that the Law Board wouldn’t be represented by the make-up of the Commission. She even stated that she and fellow Commissioner, Usha Reddi were tired of being treated like second class citizens by the rest of the Commission. Butler explained that he left McCulloh off his list of recommendations because he didn’t believe she would be mindful of the budget.
After Butler’s recommendations were rejected, a motion was eventually passed to appoint four Commissioners to the Law Board, including Wynn Butler, Usha Reddi, John Matta and Karen McCulloh.
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The Manhattan City Commission also considered a request Tuesday from the North American Islamic Trust to rezone and create the Noor Residence, PUD.
The site, located on 1224 Hylton Heights Rd, contains two lots that would contain the existing Mosque and a 13-room apartment building with a small retail coffee location built in.
Several residents from the surrounding neighborhood and a business owner attended Tuesday’s Commission meeting to voice their concern with the increased traffic and parking jam that may be caused by the addition of the apartment complex. The property owner was also present and said he was willing to work with the surrounding community to find a compromise.
The motion failed because the Commission could not produce a majority vote. The Commission agreed to send the request back to the Planning Board for reconsideration.
