On the first Thursday of every month, a handful of Sparks citizens meet at the Larry D. Johnson Community Center. Their topic of conversation is Sparks city government, with their advice passed on to the Sparks City Council.

Now the Sparks City Council has its eye on this small group.

The Sparks Citizens Advisory Committee is tasked with providing citizen input, gathering information, formulating opinions and offering advice on all governmental affairs. The SCAC acts in an advisory capacity to the city council.

On Monday, the council voted unanimously to start appointing members to the committee. Formerly, the committee had no membership requirements other than simply showing up at a weekly meeting and it had about 14 active members.

“Over the last decade or so, the membership has been fairly fluid,” community relations director Adam Mayberry told the council. “There has been much discussion on making the citizens advisory committee more effective in its purpose … strengthening it by appointing as we do with all our boards and commissions.”

As of Jan. 1, 2010, the committee will be made up of two citizens from each ward in Sparks as well as one alternate for each ward.

Each city council member will appoint two members to the committee from that council person’s ward. The Mayor would appoint members to represent the Sparks Planning Commission, the Parks and Recreation Commission and the Sparks Advisory Committee for the Disabled. One representative from each of these groups would serve on the SCAC.

“We examined and looked a variety of citizen’s advisory boards across the country,” Mayberry said. “There is no real cookie-cutter approach to making a citizen’s advisory board. The common thread we heard was to create a (board) that is more reflective of the city as far as geographical boundaries and as far as its diversity.”

Currently, the committee is represented by one member from Sparks’ Ward 1, two members from Ward 2, two members from Ward 4 and 13 members from Ward 5.

Current committee chairman Keith Primus was in agreement with the change.

“I think the main point is that this resolution is going to provide communication between the city council and this community,” Primus said.

“It is a great committee,” he told the council Monday. “I think in order for us to be useful to you and have that open communication we need to adopt this resolution.”

Under the changes, membership in the SCAC would total 13 people.

The committee is subject to Nevada’s open meeting laws and is governed not by city law, but rather city resolution.

Those interested in applying would do so through the city of Sparks Web site.