Overton To Post Agendas 5 Days Before Meeting

Overton County will now publish its commission meeting agendas five days before a meeting takes place.

County Commissioner Donna Savage said the county will no longer schedule any committee meetings the week before the commission meets. Savage said this change will allow the agenda to be fully developed by the time commissioners need to start reviewing it.

“Some of our agendas are let’s say a hundred pages long,” Savage said. “That is not something you can over in the amount of just a few days or just a few moments before a meeting. So it’s very important that you be able to read the agenda and know exactly what we are voting on.”

Savage said the agenda will be available for both commissioners and the public five days early. Savage said committees can still meet the week before a commission meeting and add items to the complete agenda with an addendum if there is an emergency.

“The commissioners set the precedence for when they want their agendas,” Savage said. “So yes, I do believe it is a positive outcome.”

Savage said she hopes this new policy will give the public more peace of mind about the idea that anyone is keeping anything hidden.

“If we don’t know about it, they don’t know about it,” Savage said. “We’re just as much in the dark as the public is.”