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Council's meeting dates to be scheduled
Tuesday's St. Landry Parish Council meeting will start at 5:30 p.m. rather than 6 p.m. to allow time for two public hearings.
The first public hearing will change the council's meeting night from the third Tuesday to the third Wednesday of each month.
The matter was first proposed at the new council's first meeting in January. Following Tuesday's public hearing, the matter is expected to be put to a vote of the full council, and if passed, the first Wednesday meeting will take place at 6 p.m. March 18.The second public hearing is on a new ordinance designed to regulate public comment at future meetings.
The new rules only put into writing the rules the former police jury and now parish council have been following for years.
The ordinance calls for limiting public comment on agenda items to five minutes. The time limit can be extended by a two-thirds vote of the council.
Such comments are to be heard as soon as the agenda is approved, traditionally the first action of each meeting.
To speak, interested individuals must first sign a public comment card with Council Clerk Glenda H. Zachary and mention which items they wish to address.
Such cards are available at each meeting.
For items not already on the agenda, the new rules don't allow discussion at that meeting. Instead, interested individuals or groups can make a request in writing to the clerk at least 10 days before the meeting, and they will then be placed on the agenda.