Three residents spoke during public participation at the Oct. 6 Belleville City Council meeting. Steve Smith sought clarification on the city's mask policy; Lt. Col. Heffernan offered to speak with him after the meeting.

"Lieutenant colonel Heffernan, can you talk to him afterwards," the mayor said; Heffernan told Smith he would follow up. Smith asked specifically whether medical COVID masks were exempt under the policy.

Rick Brown of 624 South Pennsylvania accused city officials of wrongly blocking a building permit on an undersized lot and said he would file complaints with outside authorities. "This is a conspiracy to deprive people of their civil rights," Brown said during his public comment. He referenced a zoning-board-of-appeals hearing and named several city staff and attorneys in his remarks.

Another speaker identified as Stewart Manor criticized courthouse procedures and complained about bond amounts, invoking the Eighth Amendment. "The eighth amendment states, no excessive bonds or fines," Stewart said, and questioned why he had received a $1,000,000 bond on what he described as a trivial matter.

Council did not take action on the statements during the meeting. Lt. Col. Heffernan agreed to speak with Steve Smith after the meeting about the mask-policy question; no official city response to the allegations about zoning or court bonds was made on the record.