Long agendas

City council and planning board meetings that run on to midnight or later are an inevitable consequence of growth, but tired officials and hurried staff may not be giving important items the attention they need.

Blame should not be attached to councilors and board members — they're all volunteers who have day jobs.

And blame should not be attached to city staff — as one councilor recently told the Pilot, it's the duty of elected officials to keep track of how the city's money is spent, so you don't want to just hand over every decision to staff.

Clogged agendas with items that require a sharp mind are the result of growth, pure and simple.

The Nov. 18 planning board meeting is an extreme case in point. Three major development proposals were under consideration — the city's Baker Commons project on the gravel pit next to The Wave, the Bridgewater Trails subdivision on Monegan Road, and the Boardwalk at Whitefish resort on Wisconsin Ave.

Weary planning board members told the chairman they were getting woozy and having trouble paying attention. But the board forged ahead because the developer has a right to have his proposal heard in a timely fashion.

What's the solution to this problem? Having large proposals brought to the table in stages — as is being done with the Boardwalk plan — means both the public and the board will have more time to digest the information. On the other hand, critics claim, the change gives developers an unfair advantage in testing the wind before the proposal goes to council.

We live in the information age. And as one planning board member put it — all the easy decisions have already been made.