photo by: Journal-World

The west side of the Douglas County Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St., is pictured on Sept. 23, 2021.

Douglas County leaders may soon be responsible for appointing about half of Peaslee Tech’s board of directors.

A joint resolution requiring that the technical school’s board of seven members be appointed by the City of Lawrence and Douglas County is on the agenda for this week’s Douglas County Commission meeting. Peaslee Tech has already approved a revision to its own bylaws allowing for its members to be appointed this way, so the joint resolution making it official would take effect immediately if approved by both commissions.

If that’s the case, the county would be responsible for appointing four members of the board — one at-large, one representing K-12 education, one representing a financial institution and one representing post-secondary education. The city would handle the other three — one at-large, one representing the Economic Development Corporation of Lawrence and Douglas County and one representing workforce development.

Per Peaslee Tech’s bylaws, members of the board are supposed to serve three-year terms, but the initial appointments under the joint resolution would be staggered. For Douglas County, that would mean appointing one director to a one-year term, one to a two-year term and two to three-year terms.

It’s unclear why Peaslee Tech’s leadership wants the board to be appointed by the city and county, besides the resolution noting that “it would be advantageous to reorganize the management of Peaslee Tech” in such a way.

The resolution also makes clear that the school would not become a municipal or county agency and that neither the city nor the county is responsible for any liabilities or financial obligations for Peaslee Tech.

Peaslee Tech was formed in 2015 through a collaborative effort between the City of Lawrence, Douglas County and the EDC of Lawrence and Douglas County to address the need for local workforce training. It now has more than 25 training and apprenticeship programs on offer.

In other business, the commission will:

• Consider a pair of amendments revising zoning regulations. One corrects an oversight from a previous amendment to adopt regulations for solar energy conversion systems in Douglas County. The proposed amendment would provide clarity to the regulations by clearly noting which zoning district solar energy conversion systems are and are not permitted in — either “Commercial/Utility Scale” or “Limited Scale.”

The other revises the subdivision regulations for Lawrence and the unincorporated areas of Douglas County to prohibit any new rezoning to the “Cluster Preservation” district — the rural residential zoning district. The intent is to protect agricultural land.

• Hear an update on the progress of the Douglas County Treatment and Recovery Center.

Wednesday’s business meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Douglas County Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St. The meeting will also be available by Zoom. For meeting information, visit the county’s website: dgcoks.org/commissionmeetings.