News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Cookeville City Council considering adopting a communication change in its municipal code at its meeting Thursday night.
City Manager James Mills said the change came down from the state legislature regarding how city councils post agendas and conduct their meetings. He said the proposed change for Cookeville City Council includes a chance for public comment after each agenda item.
“the way this will be done going forward is that before at the council votes on an item, the officer leading the meeting which is typically the mayor will open the floor for comments and if there are no comments, they will proceed to vote on the issue,” Mills said. “But this will allow people to speak before the matter is actually decided.”
Currently, public comment is allowed during public hearings or at the end of the city council meeting on non-agenda items. Mills said he and the council agree that if a citizen is taking the time out of their schedules to attend a council meeting, they should have ample opportunity to be heard.
Mills said the other municipal code change comes from when the agenda for city council meetings are posted. He said the law requires an agenda to be posted 48 hours in advance and has a provision to allow for agenda items to be added in the event of an emergency.
“Which we periodically have to do, add items after an agenda is posted typically because of emergencies,” Mills said. “For example, if a piece of equipment has broken down we have to repair and it costs more than is allowed without going before the council, then we have to add that so we can get those repairs done. So it’s infrequent, but Public Chapter 213 requires that we set up a procedure for that.”
The council will vote on the municipal code changes at 5:30p.m. at Cookeville City Hall.
