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Committeemember Tipps stated, Presumably, the person the HPC elects has some expertise in Historic Preservation. They may want somebody with expertise. Committeemember Davis stated, I would agree but that's the elected body doing that in the City structure. That's why I'm saying the same requirements should be across the board. Councilmember Jo M. Broden stated, Having looked at both the Interlocal Agreement and the enabling legislation, and having gone line by line on this, I think there are a lot of questions on this. It's not just answering Jo Broden's questions but I think it is important for the Council to understand this is the undertaking of an entirely new department. We need to take the time to get it right. Specifically with regards to serving an entire County and the crafting of the Interlocal Agreement, it is actually a tool that gets us good participation from small areas of the County. While I'm not a member of this Committee, I think we do have the time to hold up on this to get questions answered. She then passed out a document with her questions (available in the City Clerk's Office). She continued, There are a lot of minor changes but they could have big implications in the future. One (1) of the biggest difficulties I have on voting on this tonight is we have no idea of the transition plan and the benchmarks to make this move. Another big concern I have are the financial pieces to it as well as some of the triggers if this breaks apart and what happens after that. We can't, in my opinion,make this decision until those questions are answered. I'm not sure, within this agreement, we have looked at all those contingencies long or adequately enough. I would like for us to postpone this legislation until our next meeting. What is the actual plan and what are the benchmarks? This is a big change taking on a long-standing organization. We need to make sure we have the protections in place to have the best service possible. Without the original Interlocal Agreement and an actual transition plan, I don't feel comfortable voting on this. Councilmember Tim Scott stated, The County decided not to fund this. If we don't fund this, it will not exist, correct? Mr. Mueller replied, If we don't have all four (4) entities pass this, it would default to the State, that is correct. Councilmember Scott followed up,And how long has Historical Preservation been operating like this? Mr. Mueller replied, Since 1973. Councilmember Scott stated, The way I look at it is this is a brand new department, yes, but they have been running with experience for quite a long time. I agree with concerns raised about the structure of the commission, but this is just an operational transition. Is it worth passing now, but coming back to this and amending it? Mr. Mueller replied, We are open to more shifts and changes over time. The concern with this is there isn't, practically, enough time before the end of the year to get the same document passed through all four(4) bodies, if we postpone it right now. 3