Three on Planning Commission to be Replaced

NORFOLK - The Norfolk Planning Commission will have a very different look to it at their next meeting. According to an agenda for Monday’s City Council meeting, Norfolk Mayor Josh Moenning is recommending that none of the commissioners whose terms recently expired be brought back. Those three include current Board Chair Brian Lundy, as well as Barb Marsh and Sue Beckmann. Beckmann has served two three-year terms on the Planning Commission, and said she was shocked when she was informed she wouldn’t be back. “At first it was shock, and then sincere hurt,” Beckmann said in an interview with News Channel Nebraska. “It hurt to have someone say ‘Thank you for your service. You’ve done nothing wrong, but you’re being replaced.’" According to the agenda for Monday's meeting, Mayor Moenning is recommending Billy Coby, Dr. Zackary Gangwer and Dirk Waite as new commissioners. Beckmann says the current Commission has been studying a number of major projects, including the potential Depot renovations and the East Omaha Avenue corridor. She adds the three new commissioners will have a steep learning curve right away. “Until you’re actually sitting through it and seeing it in you’re community and what’s going to happen, it’s going to take a couple of years before somebody really understands something,” said Beckmann. Beckmann said she was proud of her time on the Commission, which recently helped redraft Norfolk’s Comprehensive Plan. “I loved the Comp Plan,” Beckmann said. “I loved being a part of that. I’m also proud of the Norfolk Avenue project. There was some controversy with that, but that is something that was long overdue." Both Lundy and Marsh declined to be interviewed for this story. The three new commissioners have to be approved by the City Council. Their meeting Monday will begin at 5:30 p.m.