Grants Pass council approves housekeeping edits to meeting procedures, including public‑comment and agenda rules

The Grants Pass City Council gave staff direction at a workshop to proceed with a set of housekeeping edits to the council’s rules and order of business.

Staff proposed cleaning up Resolution 24‑7457 to reflect current practices: change the formal agenda‑setting frequency from semimonthly to monthly, remove stand‑alone agenda items that asked council to "review public comment" and "review emails," and align the public‑comment card receipt practice (staff currently accepts cards until 6 p.m. the day of the meeting).

Clerk Karen said late comment cards arriving after the 6 p.m. cutoff are rare. Councilors debated access concerns: some argued accepting cards through the public‑comment portion of the meeting is more accessible for people who cannot arrive early, while others warned that accepting cards late can be administratively difficult and may reduce the individual time available during the 30‑minute public‑comment block.

By consensus during the workshop, councilors approved proposed changes shown on the screen: (1) make agenda‑setting monthly rather than semimonthly; (2) remove the two order‑of‑business bullets; and (3) amend the public‑comment language to reflect receiving written comment cards by 6 p.m. and limiting the general public‑comment period to 30 minutes, with council discretion to extend in special circumstances. Staff will bring the clean‑up resolution forward on a consent calendar at a future business meeting for formal adoption.