Speakers will be limited to 2 minutes each

The Peachtree City Council has ceded up to 20 minutes of its future meetings for comments from citizens about any item not on the agenda.

Granted, each person only gets two minutes to speak. That’s two minutes more than allowed by the previous ordinance, which left such speech entirely up to the council’s discretion.

There’s another catch. Speakers will have to register with city staff starting at 6:30 p.m. until the meeting begins at 7 p.m. And council will not be required to respond to any public statements that are made, according to the approved guidelines.

The plan is to strictly adhere to the 20-minute overall time limit, and the two-minute slots will be handed out first-come, first-serve, city officials said.

The public comment period will be on the beginning of the agenda starting with the next council meeting Thursday, May 4, said City Administrative Director Jane Miller.

The idea was bandied about at the City Council’s March retreat as a way to let the public get issues off its chest, perhaps bringing something to council’s attention that might be of importance.

Council did not change the current three-minute allowance to citizens wishing to speak on any topic on the agenda.

The new ordinance, however, eliminates the former requirement that three minutes of time be granted to anyone who is disparaged at the council meeting by any city employee, appointed official or city contractor. That part of the ordinance hasn’t been used, so staff recommended it be axed from the ordinance.