(a) Members. The Planning Commission shall consist of eleven members, all of whom shall be residents of the City, who shall be qualified by knowledge and experience in matters pertaining to the development of the City, and the membership shall include representatives in business, industry and labor. Three-fifths of all members of the Commission shall have been residents of the City for at least ten years prior to their nomination. One member of the Commission shall be a member of an administrative department of the City, and one member of the Commission shall be a member of City Council.
(b) Appointment, Terms and Compensation of Members; Vacancies; Expenses of Members. The members of the Commission shall be nominated by the City Manager and confirmed by Council. The terms of the Council member and administrative department member shall be coextensive with the terms of office to which they have, respectively, been elected or appointed, unless the City Manager and Council, at the first regular meeting of each year, appoint others to serve as the City's representatives. The remaining members of the Commission shall serve respectively for terms of three years. Vacancies shall be filled by appointment for the unexpired term only. Members of the Commission shall serve without compensation, but shall be reimbursed for actual expenses incurred in the performance of their official duties.
Appointments to the Commission shall be made annually at the first meeting of the Council in January as follows: In the year 1970 and every three years thereafter, one member shall be appointed. In the year 1971 and every three years thereafter, five members shall be appointed. In the year 1972 and every three years thereafter, three members shall be appointed. These terms do not apply to the Council member or to the administrative department member of the Commission.
(c) Powers and Duties. The Commission shall have all the powers, rights, duties, immunities, privileges and responsibilities, and shall be subject to all limitations and liabilities relating to municipal planning commissions as provided in the Code of West Virginia.
(d) Donations; Planning Commission Fund. All donations for Commission purposes shall be deposited with the City in a special nonreverting Planning Commission Fund to be available for expenditure by the Commission for the purposes designated by the donors. The City Treasurer shall draw warrants against such special nonreverting fund only upon vouchers signed by the president and secretary of the Commission.
(e) Appropriations and Disbursements. Council shall appropriate funds to carry out the duties of the Commission. The money so appropriated shall be disbursed by the City Treasurer upon vouchers signed by the president or secretary of the Commission and approved by the City Manager. (1977 Code Sec. 21.01)