City manager presents draft public comment policy; residents urge continued support for Warrensburg Main Street

City Manager Michael D. Scribe presented a draft public comment policy the council had discussed during strategic planning. The draft distinguishes three kinds of public comment—formal hearing comments, comments on agenda items intended to occur before council discussion, and general public comment—and emphasizes content-neutral, time, place, and manner limits. Scribe said the policy is a draft and will be refined with council input; he also proposed a short script for the presiding officer to use to "reset decorum" if meetings become disruptive.

Councilmembers raised several practical questions about implementation: how sign-up sheets would work for multiple comment opportunities in the same meeting, when sign-up should close, and how a sample agenda would look with separate comment slots. "The sign up sheet is gonna be important," Scribe said, and staff committed to draft example agendas and streamlined sign-up procedures.

During the public-comment period, Jamie DeBacker, representing Warrensburg Main Street, summarized the nonprofit's contribution to downtown revitalization—reporting 31 event days in six months, more than 10,000 visitors to the farmers market, 2,400 volunteer hours valued at roughly $80,000, and $825,000 in private investment—and asked the council to continue funding the organization as an investment in downtown economic development. "Your investment in Warrensburg Main Street directly benefits the city and helps accomplish goals that might otherwise require city resources," DeBacker said.

A resident who identified herself as Rania also urged continued support, saying Main Street had transformed downtown activity and was central to Farmers Market success and new businesses.

Council thanked the speakers and asked staff to return with a draft agenda and sign-up approach to test how the proposed policy would work in practice.