Commissioners to receive printed materials despite the village going paperless for meeting documents

By Megan Kelley
Staff Writer
LAKE ORION — The Lake Orion Village Council approved two requests from the planning commission on Monday, including no longer paying planning commissioners for attending meetings
The council adopted a resolution, as requested, that members serve on the commission without compensation.
According to Councilmember Michael Lamb, who sits on the planning commission, the request came after several members of the commission said they didn’t feel they needed to be compensated and/or had voiced frustration after filing their taxes this year because they forget to factor in the $40 they receive for serving on the commission.
“I think the main reason is they just want to do a public service and look at it as community service,” Lamb said. “A penny is a penny. They want to give the money back. We don’t need to be compensated.”
The adopted resolution will go into effect on March 1.
The council also granted a request for planning commissioners to receive paper meeting packets.
Currently, all village boards and commissions use tablets during meetings to avoid printing costs.
The planning commissioners said they wanted printed copies of meeting copies packets that contain site plan designs or other important documents that have details harder to decipher in digital form.
The approval also included requesting that developers provide hard copies of their designs to the planning commission.
In recent months, the village has gone digital with its agenda packets, purchasing tablets for council members, board members and commissioners to use in order to save money, which, according to village council President Jerry Narsh, has saved the village thousands of dollars already.
The Lake Orion Planning Commission regularly meets at 7:30 p.m. on the first and third Mondays of the month at Village Hall, 21 E. Church St., in Lake Orion.