I could not attend. About 16 citizens testified. Many expressed concerns about the proposal. Here are rough notes from one resident of South Laurel:
- There needs to an operational review of the [existing] permit division
- The main problem with permits taking so long is lack of staffing.
- They need to eliminate current deficiencies and we need to continue to monitor the process.
- Should be customer focused.
- Process should not be rushed too soon.
- Our current permitting process is already better than in Howard County
- Need more fact finding.
- Customer focus makes success. Should be a cooperative process.
- Improve what we have. Have a checks and balance relationship.
- Short changed environmental concerns.
- Hard for small businesses like UNO; takes too long.
- Support efficiency, reduce redundancies. Support incentives. Code Improvement.
- Process does not eliminate environmental or remove public hearings (?).
- Needs to have citizen input.
- Council members input/discussion bullets:
- How do you pay? Response - Implementation won't happen all at once. It is a continuing process. Evolving plan.
- Need attitude clean up. Don't tolerate lack of performance.
- Process slow. Staffing issues.
- The overview had a lack of details. Were other attempts looked into?
- The council would like to meet again for a progress report and get more details on the plan. Possibly will try to schedule another meet for November. Ingrid Turner will look at the council schedule. Council does expect and wants public input.
