The Bulloch County Board of Commissioners’ winter weather-delayed regular meeting will be held at 8:30 a.m. Monday, Jan. 27 – not on a Tuesday. One scheduled topic for discussion will be whether the commissioners should allow public comments on specific agenda items before voting.
This topic appears in the “new business” portion of the agenda. It was “new business” items in particular that new Commissioner Nick Newkirk, District 2, Seat C, wanted people in the audience to be able to comment on when he broached the topic during the Jan. 7 meeting.
“I would like to be able to put some public comments before the new business, if that’s doable, and also we need to figure out if that’s possible to do that at every meeting, so the public can comment on new business before we take a vote on it,” Newkirk said.
Currently, when the commissioners hold required public hearings for specific actions, such as zoning decisions, a certain amount of time is allotted to hear from citizens in favor of and opposed to the requested change.
Otherwise, “public comments” time is usually the last or next-to-last thing on the agenda for the commissioners’ two regular meetings each month. But this comes after any voting matters in the “old business,” “consent agenda,” and “new business” segments.
That’s something Newkirk and some other challenger candidates for commission seats in the 2024 elections noticed and talked about during their campaigns.
“In the previous meetings we don’t have any way for the public to talk before we have new business, and I think … the public needs to have the opportunity,” Newkirk said Jan. 7, during his first meeting as a commissioner.
He suggested allowing three minutes per person.
Rules list it last
However, the order of business for regular meetings is outlined in the Bulloch County Code of Ordinances.
“The ordinance basically says that public comments will be at the end of the agenda,” County Attorney Jeff Akins pointed out during the Jan. 7 meeting. “It also allows the board by majority vote to allow public comments on an individual item on the agenda.”
The key ordinance subsection currently states: “Public comments. The final agenda item of the meeting shall be reserved for comments from the public. All members of the public who wish to address the board must submit their name and the topic of their comments to the county manager at least three business days before the board meeting.
“These individuals will be allotted five minutes to make their comments and their comments must be limited to their chosen topic. These limits can be waived by a majority vote of the board.”
Another subsection states: “Public participation on agenda items. “By a majority vote, the board may allow public comment on an agenda item at the time the item is being considered by the board. These comments must be limited to the subject that is being debated. Members of the public may speak for five minutes and may only speak once. These limits can be waived by a majority vote of the board. …”
Akins asked Newkirk on Jan. 7, “Are you saying you’d like for them to have public comments on everything?”
Newkirk said, “just on the new business part tonight,” but added that he wanted the board and staff to figure out what needed to be done to allow for public comments about agenda topics on a regular basis before making decisions.
At the Jan. 7 meeting, commissioners voted 4-2 to allow discussion on that meeting’s two “new business” action items. Commissioners Anthony Simmons and Timmy Rushing voted “no.”
“How are we going to have a public discussion on (an agenda item) and we ain’t even discussed it yet?” Simmons had asked. “Now, this is the board up here. We’re ready to talk about this issue. We’ll be here all night. … This is just way out of order, to me.”
Chairman David Bennett referred the question back to Akins as the board’s parliamentarian. Akins observed that if people spoke on a new business item before it was presented, they might not know what to comment on.
After the commissioners’ majority vote allowed for public comments specific to that night’s two “new business” actions, there were no public comments on one and only a question or two on the other. But Akins agreed to look into how public comments on agenda items could be added through an ordinance amendment.
Possible amendment
A possible amendment is included in Monday’s agenda packet, but with the caveat: “This is for presentation only for the purpose of discussion. Changes can be made before the vote.”
As written, the amendment would add a “Public Comment on Agenda Items ONLY” time before the consent agenda, old business and new business in the prescribed order of regular meetings.
The suggested subsection would allow each speaker up to three minutes to address the board but also allow the time limit to be waived or extended by a majority vote of commissioners. Individuals wanting to speak would be required to sign up before the start of the meeting, providing their names and the specific agenda item they would discuss.
Spending review
But before that topic, Monday’s meeting is scheduled to include two staff presentations and the consent agenda.
With the board now looking toward budgeting for fiscal year 2026 (to begin July 1, 2025), Chief Financial Officer Kristie King is slated to deliver a status report on the county government’s current-year revenues and spending. This includes a listing of which departments and programs have exceeded expected year-to-date spending, by how much and why.
Next, County Engineer Brad Deal is scheduled to give a presentation on the Brannen Pond Road drainage project.
The consent agenda includes 14 items the commissioners could vote on as a single motion. These range from approval of past meetings’ minutes to some spending items. One eye-catching expenditure up for approval is a $2.1 million annual contribution to the Defined Benefit Pension Plan for county employees.
Two separate “new business” items are a “not to exceed” $554,900 contract with Kimley Horn and Associates and a “not to exceed” $860,545 contract with American Engineers Inc., both for design services on dirt road paving projects.
City meetings Tuesday
Originally scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 21, but cancelled for Winter Storm Enzo, the county’s meeting was rescheduled to Monday to fit commissioners’ work schedules.
But Statesboro City Council’s two meetings postponed from last Tuesday, a 3:30 p.m. multi-topic work session and 5:30 p.m. regular meeting, have been rescheduled for those same times on Tuesday, Jan. 28.