Alling appointed planning chair

A former council member will head a planning commission for the city of Coulee Dam that currently has no other members.

The city council Feb. 26 unanimously approved Mayor Bob Poch’s nomination of Ben Alling to head the commission, charged with completing a new comprehensive plan for the town as required by state law.

The law would also allow the city to appoint one person for the process. The council has discussed that possibility, but Councilmember Keith St. Jeor moved to select Alling to chair the effort.

He won’t be without help. The city has had professional planners SCJ Alliance on the task for some time, but the effort has stalled while waiting to recruit commitee members from the general public.

Poch said Alling, who did not run for re-election last fall, had accepted his invitation to the task.