Mayor suggests new advisory board

September 2, 2009

By JoAn Bjarko

The Wellington

In an effort to counteract accusations that Wellington (Colorado) Town Hall doesn’t listen to the business community, Mayor Larry Noel is seeking a few good citizens to serve as third-party mediators.

The town board, after a brief discussion on Aug. 25, concurred that a five-member advisory group with two town board members as liaisons could help resolve some concerns.

Interviewed after the board meeting, Noel said that the citizen group will start with a focus on business and development issues. Noting that some people feel intimidated by town board meetings, the mayor suggested that taking a concern to a neutral third party could possibly resolve conflicts more quickly.

“Rumors I don’t like,” Noel said. “If we had a committee that could stop rumors, that’s a good thing.”

Noel said he expects that committee meetings would not be open to the public, but any recommendations from the committee would be presented in writing or verbally to the full town board for a final decision.

The board directed town attorney Brad March and town administrator Larry Lorentzen to develop a list of potential committee members by the next board meeting on Sept. 8.