(A) The city owns and operates the city parks and other recreational areas through the City Council, which shall have the authority to adopt rules and regulations for the efficient management ofthe city parks and other recreational areas of the city.
(B) There may exist a Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee, to be governed as follows.
(1) Creation and composition. The Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee shall consist of at most five members and at least three members who will be appointed by the Mayor by and with the consent of the City Council.
(2) Appointment and terms of members; compensation. Each member shall serve for period of three years from and after the date of his or her appointment; provided that the initial terms shall be shortened in order to provide for staggered terms with one term ending at the end ofthe first year, two terms ending at the end of the second year and two terms ending at the end of the third year. No member shall be a member of the City Council. All members of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee shall serve as such without compensation.
(3) Organization; quorum; meetings; records. At the first meeting in each calendar year, members of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee shall elect one oftheir own members as chairperson. The Committee shall adopt all necessary rules providing for regular and special meetings and for the conduct of its business. All proceedings shall have minutes taken; the minutes shall be submitted to the City Clerk and copies given to the Mayor and City Council. The Committee shall comply with all requirements ofthe Nebraska Open Meetings Act, including but not limited to the Act’s requirements of advance published notice of meetings, meetings open to the public, advanced available agendas, roll call votes, closed sessions and minutes of meetings.
(4) Powers and duties. The City Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee shall consider all matters concerning the city’s parks and recreational facilities referred to it by the Mayor, City Council, the City Administrator or the Public Works Superintendent. The Committee shall review the matters referred to it and make such studies based on the referred matters as it may deem necessary and appropriate and shall tender recommendations to the originator of the referral. The matters may include, but are not limited to, matters concerning future parkland acquisition and development, rules, and regulations for use of the parks and recreational areas, and maintenance and operational considerations. Each year, on or before June 1, the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee shall submit to the Mayor and City Council a report on the status of the city’s parks and recreational areas. The Committee shall have no authority to enter into financial obligations or expend funds of any kind, but the City Council, as it may deem necessary and appropriate, may provide funds for use by the Committee. The Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee does not constitute a Board of Park Commissioners or a Board of Park and Recreation Commissioners pursuant to Neb. Rev. Stat. § 17-952 nor does the Committee have the powers or duties granted by said statute.
(Ord. 798, passed 12-12-2023)