The newly-formed Community Services Advisory Commission will meet for the first time on Monday, Oct. 27, at Town Hall. This group is a consolidation of three former groups including the Parks and Recreation, Senior Services and Community Center advisory commissions.

A fourth commission, the McDowell Mountain Preserve Commission, will eventually be included in the consolidation, but it will remain as a separate group until a mountain preserve trailhead is completed at an as yet undetermined time in the future.

Current members of the three commissions will be seated as members of the new group, so initially it will be somewhat large. It will eventually be reduced by attrition to around nine members.

Staff presentations to the new group will be the basis of the agenda for this first meeting. Community Services Director Mark Mayer will lead with additional information from lead staff with parks and recreation, the Community Center and Senior Services.

The group will be tasked with selecting its first chairman and vice chairman to lead going forward.

Discussions regarding the consolidation came about early this year with Mayer drawing attention to some concerns regarding the existing structure.

Mayer said the plan would save considerable staff time and administrative costs over operating four separate commissions.

He said staff currently spends about 1,500 hours a year tending to the needs of the commissions, the equivalent of an employee working 30 hours per week.

The staff time includes recruitment, orientation, meetings, agenda preparation, minutes and other associated tasks.

“Combining the commissions would cut that time in half or less and allow the newly-restructured commission to be more effective and productive in its advisory capacity,” Mayer said in a previous memo to the council.

He also cited the ongoing difficulty in getting volunteers to serve on commissions.

Mayer had regular discussions with the chairpersons for the four groups and all four commissions have considered the consolidation separately and recommended the new structure.

The commission meets Monday at 5 p.m. in council chambers at Town Hall. The meeting is open to the public.