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Council keeps municipal election schedule, abolishes anonymous portal and approves Sixth Street truck ban and stop signs
Summary
After public comments opposing staff proposals to shift municipal elections, council kept its current election schedule, voted to discontinue the anonymous public comment portal and repurpose it as a contact form, and approved a truck prohibition and two additional stop signs on Sixth Street to boost pedestrian safety.
On June 1 the Sunset Beach council discussed several items affecting public engagement, elections and local traffic safety.
Municipal elections: Public commenters urged the council not to cancel the 2027 election or extend elected terms without a voter process. Council members debated the merits and whether voters should decide changes; a motion to keep the existing municipal election schedule and terms passed. Council noted that moving to even‑year elections could save the town election costs but decided any charter change should be voter‑driven.
Public comment portal: Staff briefed council on problems with the existing electronic public comment portal (anonymous submissions, aliases and staff time required to vet and verify entries). Council voted to abolish the public forum portal and to repurpose the web form as an administrative contact method for messages to council (staff to implement login/verification options, consider Microsoft account gating, and preserve searchability while treating submissions as administrative communications rather than a published forum).
Sixth Street safety: Police staff proposed several options to improve pedestrian and vehicular safety on Sixth Street; council authorized an ordinance to prohibit through‑trucks on Sixth Street and approved placement of two stop signs (creating three‑way stops at key intersections), with a scheduled review after the summer season to evaluate effectiveness.
Council asked staff to ensure that any regulatory changes (truck prohibition signs, new stop signs) are backed by appropriate ordinances and to notify affected neighborhoods and drivers of changes.
