THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 31, 1996 TAG: 9601300142
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 09 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
DATELINE: SMITHFIELD LENGTH: Short : 46 lines
Next month, if you feel like saying something directly to the Town Council at its meeting, you can. Again.
Peter Stephenson, Smithfield's new town manager, announced recently that the council will bring back a petitioners, or public comment, section in the informational portion of the regular monthly meeting agenda, beginning in February.
This change will allow citizens to sign up and speak to the full council on any matters of importance, except scheduled public hearing items. A separate sign-up sheet and opportunity to speak later in the business portion of the agenda is provided for advertised and scheduled public hearing matters.
The public comment portion was deleted several years ago when council members decided that it consumed too much time.
Each speaker is asked to limit comments to five minutes, Stephenson said in a new release. Also, if there is more than one speaker on a topic, a group representative should be selected to address the council and/or submit a petition on behalf of other individuals, he said.
``This is a valuable opportunity for the public to have direct contact with the full Town Council in an open forum,'' Stephenson said in the statement. ``If a response to the public comments is necessary, such response will be issued in writing from the town manager following the meeting. Any petitioner wishing to file a formal complaint to a specific town department will still need to follow established procedures.''
Stephenson said the Town Council will take all comments received under advisement; however, council members will not debate comments received at the meeting.
Additional agenda changes include a new ``Council Comments'' section to allow each council member to make important informational announcements and an expanded town manager staff report. MEMO: Smithfield's Town Council meets at 7:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of
each month in Town Hall, 310 Institute St. For information, call
Stephenson at 357-3247.
by CNB