BEAUFORT, S.C. (June 26, 2024) – Beginning July 1, the start of the new fiscal year, Beaufort City Council will institute changes to the number of regular meetings it has, and the method of conducting them.
City Council, at its Regular Meeting on June 25, approved an ordinance that would:
- Establish a monthly work session and regular meeting to be held at 5 and 7 p.m., respectively, on the second Tuesday of the month. Currently, regular meetings are held on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month.
- Allow work sessions, or other meetings as needed, to be held on the second, third and fourth Tuesdays of the month. Currently work sessions are held twice a month on the second and fourth Tuesdays, with a third work session devoted to Beaufort Code changes. The code edit work sessions have come to an end.
At its meeting on June 11, City Council adopted a manual of Standard Operating Procedures that included changes in how City Council conducts its regular meetings.
Consent agenda
Beginning July 1, Council agendas will include a consent agenda of routine items that come before City Council, such as approvals of special events to be held at Waterfront Park. Other matters which are expected to be non-controversial and routine may also be placed on the consent agenda. These items can be approved as a group by City Council. However, Council reserves the right to remove any item from the consent agenda for the purpose of discussion and approval.
Public comment
Changes to public comment include offering two different public comment periods; one near the beginning of the meeting and one near the end of the meeting. The first comment period is limited to meeting agenda items only. The second comment period provides an opportunity to comment on any matter related to City business.
Public comment will be limited to five minutes per speaker. Comments can be made in person or via Zoom and speakers are encouraged to inform the City Clerk prior to the meeting of their intentions. They are also asked to sign a Public Comment Sign-In Sheet at least 15 minutes before the meeting, which will be set up on a table at the entrance to Chambers.
This is a departure from past practices which allowed public comment for unrelated agenda topics at the beginning of meetings and public comment for each item as it was discussed by Council during the meeting.
The mayor/chair may always place additional limits on public comment, as needed, so long as it is announced at the beginning and applied consistently throughout the meeting. Reasonable limits may include reducing the individual time limit from 5 minutes (i.e., 2 mins or 3 mins per speaker) or limiting the total public comment time to a set limit (i.e., 30 minutes for everyone), or asking groups to choose a representative to speak on the group’s behalf rather than each member speaking.
Revised calendar
A revised calendar of City Council meetings for the remainder of 2024 was also approved last night. It is attached.
Summer break
City Council will hold a work session and regular meeting on July 9 and then begin a brief summer break. It will next meet on Aug. 20 with a Capital Projects Quarterly Workshop, followed by a work session and regular meeting on Aug. 27.
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