DECATUR - Planning and zoning commission members will now get paid $25 per meeting for their service to the city of Decatur.

Four city council members voted to compensate the five planning and zoning commission members at the March 11 meeting. Councilman David Sutton abstained from voting because he serves on the committee.

Councilman Bob Tharp made the motion, pointing out that the commission will likely have a huge task in front of them with the proposed large-scale development near Crystal Lake.

State law requires the commission to meet quarterly, but they will likely be meeting more often as they research the development and other issues, he said.

Tharp suggested paying them the small stipend to compensate them for their gas money and show support.

“It’s not in the budget, but it won’t hurt the budget,” Mayor Charles Linam said.

Councilman David Sutton, who serves on the planning and zoning commission, estimated that it would cost about $125 a meeting or about $500 a year for quarterly meetings.

In other business, the council passed a motion to take former city clerk Leslie Haag’s name as a signatory off all city accounts and to change all eligible deposit accounts to interest-bearing accounts.

The city has tens of thousands of dollars in accounts that are eligible to be interest-bearing but are not, Linam said.

“The minute we get these accounts changed over, we start earning $2 a day,” he said.

News, Pages 1 on 03/27/2013