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REGULAR Town Board Meeting: Wednesday, April 2, 2024 | Election Commission Agendas & Minutes | More Information: Agendas  , Minutes  , Schedules

Guidelines for Public Visitor Participation in Downtown Development Authority Meetings

The Downtown Development Authority (DDA or Authority) has two categories for the public and those with a commercial interest to express their views, opinions and services. One category is the 'Request to be on the Agenda'. The second category is "Public Comments'. Residents, non-residents and all others will hereafter be referred to as the 'Public' or 'Visitors'.

Rational

These procedures for addressing the DDA are designed to ensure that comments from the public can be clearly heard, accomplished in an orderly fashion and serve the best interests of the community.

General Guidelines

Visitors addressing the Authority shall, when recognized by the Chairperson, stand, clearly state your name and representation as follows: if a Resident, state your address; if from a Bridgeport Township authorized committee, state the group and your position; if a Bridgeport Township employee, state your department and position; if a Purveyor of goods or services, state your company and position.

Requests to be on the Agenda

Requests to be on the Agenda shall be in writing. The request shall be submitted to the Authority Chair, the Authority Vice-Chair or to the Authority Director.

The requestor shall prepare an 'Executive Summary' (A concise document of not more that one type written page.) of the complete topic to be presented, including request specifics if any. The summary shall be delivered to the Authority Director at least seven (7) days prior to the meeting so that a copy may be provided to each Member with their meeting packets. The presenter may choose to provide ancillary materials but not in lieu of the Executive Summary. Should the requestor not provide topic materials, the request may be denied.

The requestor should arrive prior to the meeting time to set up any and all audio visual aids the Authority or Authority Director deem acceptable. When called, the presenter may then approach from the public seating area to deliver the message. The presentation shall be limited to ten (10) minutes. The DDA may have questions about the presentation that may exceed the ten minute window. The presenter is asked to keep all answers concise.

The 'Request to be on the Agenda' topic may be presented during its designated Agenda period. Alternatively, the Authority or Director may deem the topic to be either an 'Old Business' or a 'New Business' item and accept the presentation during that portion of the Agenda. If moved to an alternate part of the agenda the ten minute time period still applies.

Public Comments

Public Comments are limited to three (3) minutes per person. Visitors may comment on any issue within the jurisdiction of the DDA. All comments shall be in the form of a statement. No personal attacks, no questioning of Authority members and no public debate will be allowed.

The Chairperson may, at his/her discretion, due to unique circumstances such as meeting size or length of agenda, limit the number of persons wanting to address the same item by recessing to allow residents time to select a spokesperson to represent each selected view. Such spokespersons would be given four (4) minutes per view with a maximum of two (2) views.