INDIAN ROCKS BEACH — City commissioners have created a citizen advisory board to give residents a formal voice on issues facing the community, capping weeks of debate over the panel’s name, composition and membership criteria.
The Neighbor Advisory Board, approved 5-0 on April 14, will consist of five regular members and two alternates serving one-year renewable terms. Members must be full-time residents of Indian Rocks Beach, and the commission can appoint and remove them as needed.
“The idea of the Neighbor Advisory Board is going toward that aim of having neighbors rather than residents, citizens or customers,” City Manager Ryan Henderson said at a March 25 meeting. “But the intent is to have people that live here.”
Much of the final-reading discussion April 14 centered on who would qualify to serve. Commissioner Kellee Watt pushed for requiring members to be registered voters within the city limits, while Commissioner Hilary King suggested the full-time residency standard the commission ultimately adopted.
Mayor Lan Vaughn proposed allowing two or three subcommittees under the board’s umbrella that could include non-residents.
“We’re actually putting this in our ordinance, where it will be very difficult to remove or change” 10 or 15 years from now, Vaughn said. “So I drafted a section where it says each member of the Neighbor Advisory Board will be a voting member of the community. Period.”
Subcommittees may include up to three non-residents, he said, with the broader goal of creating “a citizen advisory board that would continue to run in perpetuity.”
One resident questioned why applicants must file a Form 1 financial disclosure and was told the state requires it.
Hurricane Task Force
The commission also voted 5-0 to establish a Hurricane Task Force, an idea Henderson said he had been weighing since he was hired in October following the 2024 storm season.
Hurricanes Helene and Milton, twin Category 3 storms, struck the Gulf Coast within two weeks that fall.
The task force will assess the city’s hurricane preparedness, identify vulnerabilities and develop recommendations for improving severe-weather resilience. Because it will operate separately from the advisory board, Henderson said, membership criteria will be looser and the group can begin work immediately.
“This is an ‘establish-meet-come back-dissolve’ type of board,” he said.
Each of the five commissioners came to the meeting with nominations in hand.
“I’m ready,” Vice Mayor Jan Wilson said. “We need to get going.”
Parking signs
With the city’s paid parking pilot program set to take effect May 18, commissioners turned to how to keep beachgoers from spilling into residential streets.
After an extended discussion over where to place “No Parking” signs, Watt proposed barring on-street parking citywide except for vehicles displaying a resident parking decal. Her colleagues agreed unanimously.
“I am very much in favor of it being residents-only in the neighborhoods,” Wilson said.
“My No. 1 concern is safety, and I agree with everybody,” Vaughn said.
Henderson said the change “may warrant having a traffic study” to ensure it meets legal requirements, and that he would work with staff on implementation.