§ 30.06. Addressing the commission.

Any person desiring to address the town commission during a public meeting shall first be recognized by the person presiding over the meeting.

(A)

Members of the public may address the town commission through oral or written communications in regard to any matters. To the greatest extent possible, members of the public are encouraged to provide their comments on particular subject matters when the subject matter is on a meeting agenda and under consideration by the town commission. In the absence of an agenda item relating to a particular subject matter for consideration by the commission, members of the public may appear during the public to be heard portion of a public meeting to address the subject matter.

(B)

Any written communications or other documents read to the commission during a public meeting shall be submitted to the town clerk as part of the official record of the meeting. Notwithstanding the foregoing, anonymous communications shall not be introduced to the commission.

(C)

Each person recognized for the purpose of addressing the commission shall step forward to the podium, with microphone thereon, and shall give his or her name and address in an audible tone for the record. For all non-quasi-judicial public hearings, legislative matters, or other matters, each person speaking on a subject shall limit his or her address to three minutes or such additional time as may be granted by the mayor or by action of a majority of the commission. No persons shall be permitted to transfer their available time, if not utilized, to other speakers without action of a majority of the commission. All remarks shall be addressed to the commission as a body and not to any member thereof. No person, other than a commissioner and the person having the floor shall be permitted to enter into any debate or discussion without the permission of the chair.

(D)

For all quasi-judicial public hearings, the following time guidelines shall apply:

(1)

In order to manage and improve the timing and quality as well as the clarity of presentations, the town commission has established the following guidelines for presentations by petitioners as well as public comment for all quasi-judicial public hearings. It is the expectation of the town commission that presentations by petitioners will take approximately 20 minutes, public comments approximately five minutes per person, and there will be a rebuttal opportunity for the petitioner for an additional five minutes. Applicants are expected to respect these guidelines of the town commission.

(2)

Similarly, petitioners as well as members of the public are encouraged to provide any documentary evidence to the commission as many days prior to the public hearing as possible. If voluminous documentation is presented to the commission at the time of the hearing, the commission may choose to postpone their decision in order to review the material presented or to take other appropriate action. Any written documentation presented or read into the record shall be submitted to the town clerk as part of the official record of the meeting.

(3)

The mayor is authorized to modify these time guidelines as necessary.

('71 Code, § 2-20; Ord. 79-1, passed 1-17-79; Ord. 06-08, passed 5-1-06; Ord. No. 2012-23, § 4, 1-7-13; Ord. 2017-13, passed 7-17-17)