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Cairo looking to reduce size of its planning board

Jan 11, 2018 8:00 am

Kaitlin Lembo is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the Cairo Town Board tabled a motion January 8, to reduce the number of planning board members from seven to five. The motion to decrease the size of the board came after two recent vacancies were not filled, Town Supervisor Daniel Benoit said. “Logistically, with two vacancies, this is the best time to try to make the change,” Benoit said. “If the resolution passes, those vacancies simply go away. If not, we will fill those vacancies.” Benoit said the board was increased to seven members 20 years ago after the town had problems getting enough members to turn out for meetings. There were no objections to the reduction resolution from board members. However, Benoit said there is some objection to the change from the community. “A couple of people have objected to the downsizing on grounds of diversity,” he said. “They believe the more people on the board, the more opinions there are.” The resolution is expected to be voted on at the town board's next meeting scheduled for 7 p.m., February 5. If approved, the new law would be effective immediately. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.