School board enacts limits on public meetings

By KIMBERLY M. WEYANDT

LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY — Budget season is on the horizon for the board of education, and Sullivan West Central School District board members spent most of their November 2 meeting laying out new procedures for public participation.

A new policy means substantial changes in future board meetings, which in the past have been known to run long and indulge more than the occasional short temper.

Most noteworthy were the board’s decisions to begin regular meetings at 7:30 p.m., to end at them promptly at 10:00, to limit board member’s comments to two minutes and to allow only two comments per agenda item. Members will be permitted to speak only when board President Richard Sandler calls on them.

Further, a majority vote passed a decision to offer only two 30-minute public comment periods at each meeting. And comments from the public must pertain to agenda items and can no longer exceed three minutes each.

Each member of the public wishing to comment should state their name and address an agenda item,” Sandler said. “Issues should be related to the board of education matters and not board of education members.”

Agenda items will be decided prior to each meeting. It is the responsibility of board members to share all pertinent information with one another.

In other news, the board voted to spend no more than $25,000 to hire consultant Robert Pierce to develop a five-year financial plan for the district. The board will use the remainder of a $50,000 grant from Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther as members see fit.

The board also appointed the law firm of Shaw and Perelson, LLP as counsel for the purpose of representing the district in a Supreme Court lawsuit against Finnegan’s Warehouse Corporation and to represent the district in a federal lawsuit against Leeward Construction at an hourly wage of $170.