Graham city council members outlined several additional advisory committees they want to consider establishing, with one member also proposing one possible consolidation of a pair of existing committees.
All of the topics came up during the closing portion of Graham’s city council meeting on Tuesday night.
Councilman Ricky Hall asked that consideration of recombining the Appearance Commission and the Tree Board be considered.
The seven-member Appearance Commission has one vacancy, and the seven-member Tree Board has two vacancies.
Prior to about 2019, the two bodies were a part of the appearance commission, but the tree board was spun out into a separate advisory board.
Some have contended that the tree board, in particular, does not have a broad enough jurisdiction to warrant its own committee.
Assistant city manager Aaron Holland said he would bring back to the council’s next meeting the language that existed when the two advisory boards were combined.
Meanwhile, new councilman Bobby Chin asked whether the city has an economic development committee. “Who is our advocate to get businesses to come to Graham?” Chin asked.
Holland said he had been unable to find any indication of its previous existence, although mayor Jennifer Talley insisted that there had been one years ago.
Talley said that such a committee could serve as a clearinghouse for Graham properties that are available for development.
Lastly, Talley brought up the topic of whether the city may need to reinstitute a cemetery committee to oversee the city’s two cemeteries.
The council took no action on any of the ideas, but will likely revisit the issues at its February 8 meeting, although Talley also left open the possibility of calling a special meeting to deal with the economic development committee idea.
