To: Members of the Castle Rock Water Commission
From: Mark Marlowe, P.E., Director of Castle Rock Water
Title
Commission Role in Community Outreach
Body
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Executive Summary
This memo is to provide some background for the Commission to discuss the purpose of the Commission as it relates to community outreach. At the meeting on July 25, 2018, the Commission, by general consensus, requested that this item be put on the agenda for discussion.
In order to frame the discussion, staff has provided a copy of the Bylaws of the Castle Rock Water Commission (see Attachment A) and the Charter of the Castle Rock Water Commission (see Attachment B). Both of these documents, which outline the basic purpose of the Commission, do not discuss community outreach activities as an integral part of the Commission’s role. This simply means that adding a role related to community outreach activities to the Commission’s role will likely require the Charter and Bylaws to go back to Town Council for discussion/direction and subsequent approval.
Beyond the Charter and Bylaws, the more fundamental question is whether this is the right role for Commission as a whole and/or individual commission members. If this role is appropriate, at what level of engagement would community outreach activities make sense for the Commission and/or individual commission members? Staff believes that outreach in terms of talking with neighbors and community members about issues being discussed and evaluated by Commission, answering questions about the Commission and basic questions about Castle Rock Water probably makes sense and is essentially what is taking place currently. Commissioners also already help community members identify who to talk with for more detailed information on many issues.
As part of this discussion, staff has reached out to other departments to better understand if, when and to what extent, other Commissions have taken on a more extensive role in community outreach activities. Staff will share the results of this inquiry at the August 22, 2018, Commission Meeting.
Attachments
Attachment A Castle Rock Water Commission Bylaws
Attachment B Castle Rock Water Commission Charter