NEW PALESTINE — Two members of the New Palestine planning commission were not appointed properly, the town’s council president, Bill Niemier, stated during a special council session held late last week.
Niemier called an emergency session of the council Wednesday, Aug. 10 to get the issue corrected after he was informed by the town’s legal counsel a couple of members had been appointed improperly.
“The purpose of tonight’s meeting is to make sure our planning commission is properly constituted,” Niemier said at the meeting.
The planning commission is supposed to be composed of seven members with two different categories. There is to be a four-person citizen group and a three-person elected/appointed/employee group. The town’s council is supposed to fill the three-person group while the town council president is allowed to fill the four-person citizen’s group.
Some of the appointments didn’t follow those rules, Niemier said, creating a need to get the issue fixed immediately.
The problem surrounding the makeup of the planning commission arose after a couple of members of the commission missed several meetings and the council president suggested getting members on board who will attend and vote.
During that discussion, which happened at a council meeting in early August, the town’s attorney told Niemier they should go over the planning commission makeup at a later time. After the attorney and Niemier discussed the makeup of the planning commission following the council meeting, Niemier called for a special meeting, noting the makeup of the planning commission needed to be fixed right away.
Niemier told the council during the special session last week they needed to vote on a new person for each of the two categories. He then nominated clerk treasurer Yvonne Jonas. The council passed the recommendation, 3-2. Niemier and council members Brandee Bastin and Chris Lytle voted for the measure while council members Clint Bledsoe and Angie Fahrnow voted against the measure.
Niemier then appointed citizens Rawn Walley, Nancy Owens, Raven Smathers and Eric Kropp to the four-person category.
The new makeup didn’t sit well with Bledsoe, who immediately made a motion to take Jonas off the planning commission and nominated himself to the commission, a move Fahrnow seconded. However, the town’s attorney told the council that could not happen unless Jonas stepped down, left the clerk treasurer’s position or there was a new vote at the start of a new year.
Bledsoe then told Niemier he was “pitching underhanded” and he didn’t like it.
“I don’t think anybody appreciates it and it’s obvious,” Bledsoe said.
Niemier told the Daily Reporter immediately after the meeting that he was simply doing his duty as the council president to make sure the planning commission was constituted properly once he learned the make-up of the commission wasn’t done correctly.
The town’s council remains deeply divided surrounding the recommendation for the construction of a $61 million high end apartment complex which must have planning and council approval to continue moving forward.
In the end, the official and properly constituted three-person category of the planning commission includes council members Bastin and Fahrnow along with town employee Jonas. Bledsoe was named the alternate while Mike Jackson was named as an alternative for the citizens’ category.
During the meeting, a county citizen, Dale Wagner, interrupted the proceedings and told the council he did not believe the special meeting was legal because the council did not give citizens proper notice according to a town ordinance. However, Niemier and the town’s attorney balked at the notion after giving more than 48 hours notice, a requirement of Indiana Code, and as of print time, the meeting and new planning commission appointments are official.
The town’s planning commission (6 p.m.) and council (7 p.m.) are both slated for meetings Wednesday, Aug. 17 at Town Hall.
