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Regular City Council Meeting Monday,January 8, 2018 Page 11 With regard to public comment, Councilmember McGehee stated she has heard concern from residents about the Council not giving any feedback after a member of the public speaks. Members of the community do not find it helpful, because they do not feel they are really getting feedback and they do not have a chance to follow-up to clarify the question or respond again to the Council. There is no real interaction. She is not sure how to resolve that, but she has heard that concern re- peatedly. Councilmember Willmus expressed understanding of the desire to move the meet- ing along, though there is nothing that prohibits the Councilmember from asking a clarifying question or making clear a position. He asked whether the 5-minute limit per speaker should be maintained, particularly when a number of people are present for public comment. He suggested that 3 minutes would be better. At some point in 2017, the Council had considered tweaking public comment policy in some regard, so he would like to revisit that. He noted some communities put public comment at the end of the meeting, which may not be the best choice, but it is an option. In regard to public comment, Councilmember Laliberte expressed appreciation for the protocol of Council directing staff to follow up with any public comment that cannot be answered at that time. She opposed moving public comment to the end of the meeting, though is open to discussing other time frames. She appreciated the change the Council made to the flow and order of things in 2017,putting the consent items later. She would like that to remain unchanged. Councilmember Etten agreed with Mayor Roe's concern about having any and all comments at the beginning of the Council meeting may negatively impact the meeting. He expressed support for comments structure staying as-is. He suggest- ed 3-minute limits, with the discretion of the Council to decide if further interac- tion is needed during the meeting. Councilmember McGehee responded that the Council has given lengthier times for presenters in the past. However, 3 minutes for a member of the public is an adequate length of time, and most people do not use up their time limit anyway. If someone plans for 3 minutes and run a little bit over, that is better than planning for 5. As far as discussion with the person during public comment, she is not in favor of a big discussion. She recalled past occurrences when she desired to ask a question but was told she was not able to do that, though that might have been the discretion of the current Chair. She stated that going forward, if it is a germane question, she will go ahead and ask it. She agreed that the public comment should not run an hour long. If the Council sees 15 members of the public waiting to speak about an item,that item can be moved up on the agenda. The Council agreed with Councilmember McGehee's conclusions.