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Groveland council agrees to study meeting-rule changes: move public comment, shorter time limits, earlier start
Summary
Interim City Attorney Richard Geller outlined statutory options to improve meeting efficiency; Council asked staff to draft ordinances to move general public comment to the start of regular meetings, cut standard comment time to three minutes, and set a 10-minute applicant presentation limit with a five-minute rebuttal.
Interim City Attorney Richard Geller presented options on June 18 for improving the structure of Groveland City Council meetings, reviewing statutory requirements for ordinances, resolutions, public hearings and public comment. Council members discussed several possible changes and reached consensus to ask staff to draft any needed ordinances or policy amendments.
Council supported exploring moving general public comment from the end of regular meetings to the beginning and reducing the standard public-comment time from five minutes to three. Members also supported establishing a 10-minute presentation limit for applicants on land-use and zoning matters with a five-minute rebuttal period, and changing the regular City Council meeting start time from 7:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. The Council asked for more detailed summaries from the Planning and Zoning Advisory Board on land-use matters.
Council did not support limiting public comment at special meetings or imposing a fixed ending time for meetings. Geller reviewed statutory references (e.g., Section 166.041 and the public-meeting provisions of Chapter 286) to explain which changes would require ordinances, readings or public-notice steps. Council directed Interim City Manager Tim Maslow and Interim City Attorney Richard Geller to prepare draft ordinance language and policy changes and return to Council for future consideration.
