GREEN COVE SPRINGS – The county’s Charter Review Committee picked its legal counsel and continued early discussions about decisions that may affect the county’s future at a meeting last week.

With 15 members, the committee convenes every four years with the potential to amend the county’s charter.

The committee picked Orange Park-based lawyer Glenn Taylor to assist them. At a previous meeting, committee members signaled toward choosing a local attorney.

“That’s a big issue for us to resolve, so now we can start moving ahead on some of the topics at hand,” Chairman Bo Norton said.

Taylor has been the regional counsel for the state’s controller’s office and has worked with the town of Orange Park. Taylor said Monday he appreciated the committee’s confidence in the appointment.

“I’m excited about serving and doing my part,” Taylor said. “I want to do what’s best for the county, really.”

Committee member Randy Gillis said the transition between charter review committees must be sustained the same way as any other county function. Norton said there is a sense of frustration in not having the history of previous committees.

“I would like to go back to the staff and say, ‘Help us with this.’ Let’s not wait four years for the next group to get them ready,” Norton said. “Some of this background would be very helpful now.”

Topics were removed from discussion by committee members such as addressing red light cameras or statements about Clay County being a business-friendly or 2nd Amendment-friendly county. Members felt like the topics could be handled at an administrative level rather than adding wording to the charter, which requires voters to weigh in.

A topic at previous meetings was the implementation of a Citizen’s Bill of Rights to the charter. Committee member James Jett said most things in a Citizen’s Bill of Rights are covered in state laws and the Constitution.

“We don’t need another layer of government for that particular article,” Jett said. Committee member Scotty Taylor, no relation to Glenn Taylor, compared the charter to a local version of the Constitution. Taylor said the committee has background knowledge of the county and has to look forward. He advocated for a training class for committee members.

“This is an important commission in my opinion … we set direction down the road for things and make recommendations to the voters in Clay County of where we need to be,” Taylor said.

The next Charter Review Committee meeting will be on Jan. 6 at 7 p.m.