County Manager York presented proposed updates to the Alamance County rules of procedure that would set the first Monday meeting as a 9:30 a.m. work session for presentations and information-sharing (generally without votes) and designate a later business meeting for votes and public comment.

Manager York and staff said the change mirrors neighboring jurisdictions and is intended to give commissioners more time for deliberation and for staff to prepare follow-up information. The proposed rules would also explicitly allow remote participation but clarify that remote participants would not count toward quorum and could not vote.

Public commenters and several commissioners objected to reducing the frequency of public comment. In public comment, Harry Porterhouse argued the proposed change would "effectively reduce the citizen's ability to address you as a body by 50%" and urged the board to direct staff to reevaluate. Commissioners suggested alternatives: restore public comment to both meetings, hold quarterly town halls, or preserve a short, on-the-spot response window at meetings. One staff-proposed process would instead have staff track public-comment items, assign follow-up to subject-matter staff and publish responses online.

Other procedural clarifications presented included a duty-to-vote clause consistent with state statute (excusing members for conflicts and recording non-votes as affirmatives in minutes), and a provision that the chair may extend time limits for speakers in the chair's discretion (a change some commissioners asked to revise to require board approval instead).

The board did not adopt final changes at the Dec. 18 meeting; several commissioners asked for more deliberation and suggested additional revisions before formal adoption.