With high volumes of development expected to continue, Plan Commission members have sent a letter to the City Council requesting compensation for their time.
The all-volunteer commission has seen an increase in meetings as additional projects come through.
City staff surveyed other towns in the area and found eight towns provide some form of compensation and six, including Lockport, do not.
Mayor Frank Mitchell suggested that staff members do a more comprehensive study, noting that if one volunteer board receives compensation, then similar panels should also be paid.
Ald. Bud Conklin, who served on the Plan Commission for 17 years, said previous councils have considered compensation as an incentive when the Plan Commission struggled to establish a quorum for meetings. Conklin said commissioners then felt it wasn’t something they did for the money.
Ald. Tom Finnen pointed out that commissioners are “going above and beyond right now” with extensive hearings on a controversial proposed Wal-Mart.
Mitchell said Plan Commission members had put in more than 26 hours in four nights and said they could look at a way of expressing appreciation for their service.
