Council questions open-forum limits and schedules Feb. 10 work session on broadband, comprehensive plan

Members of the Willmar City Council questioned the city’s open-forum policy and directed staff to review the policy at a Feb. 10 work session that will also include updates on the broadband project and the comprehensive plan.

Justin, public works staff, summarized what he understood to be current practice: open forum allows three minutes for one person on a single item, and a group presentation may receive five minutes; speakers are not permitted to address items already on that meeting’s agenda if staff and council have not yet begun deliberation. Justin said staff would locate the written policy and present it to the council for review.

Council members expressed differing views. One council member said it “seems strange” that a member of the public could not address council during open forum about a non-public-hearing agenda item the council planned to consider that evening; others noted that public hearings remain the appropriate venue for certain topics. Several council members said they had received calls from residents who had been refused open-forum time because an item appeared on the agenda and argued the policy needed clarification. The council voted to schedule a work session at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 10 to review open-forum expectations alongside broadband and comp-plan updates.

Also during the meeting, staff shared that park-board appointment applications included in the packet were for council review at the next regular meeting and that information about League of Minnesota Cities training for newly elected officials was available for members who wished to attend.

What’s next

City staff will locate the open-forum policy language, prepare options or clarifications for the Feb. 10 work session, and provide council members with materials about the broadband project and the comprehensive plan ahead of that session.