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Council weighs making public comment period front-loaded; adopts policy to hold public hearings at earliest practical reading
Summary
At a Jan. 10 workshop council members favored putting general public comment at the start of meetings and agreed a policy will state that public hearings should be scheduled at the earliest practical reading (first or second) when advertisement permits.
Beaufort County Council discussed changes to public-comment procedures and where to place public hearings on ordinance calendars during a Jan. 10 workshop. Staff proposed moving general public comment to the start of meetings, offering a single 30-minute block for commenters with a possible small additional allowance at the end of the meeting for those who arrived late.
Why this matters: front-loading public comment is intended to let residents speak without waiting through lengthy agendas. Council members also said they wanted to avoid duplicative testimony and abuse of multiple speaking opportunities.
Key outcomes and clarifications:
- Public-comment placement: staff proposed a single, 30-minute general public-comment period at the beginning of meetings. Council favored that placement but discussed limited exceptions for late arrivals; the chair would have discretion to permit an additional short slot at the meeting's end for persons who could not attend earlier.
- Speaker time and limits: the workshop discussed 3-minute slots (the current practice) and alternatives such as 2 minutes to increase the number of speakers; no formal numeric change was adopted at workshop.
- Public hearings on ordinances: council agreed on a policy goal to hold public hearings at the earliest practical opportunity (preferably at first reading, when calendar and legal advertisement allow; otherwise at second reading). Staff reminded the council that statutory advertising requirements — typically 15 days for public hearings — can make immediate first-reading hearings impractical so the default operational practice will often be to hold the public hearing at second reading.
- Managing duplicate testimony: council discussed limiting people who already spoke during the general public-comment period from speaking again on the same item in a public hearing, and using the chair's discretion to allow exceptions.
Ending: staff and the clerk will prepare revised agenda language and a draft policy stating the public-hearing goal (earliest practical reading) and the 30-minute front-loaded public-comment block, with details on speaker time, sign-up procedures and the chair's authority to permit limited exceptions.
