If you’re planning on attending a Millstone Township Committee meeting anytime soon, you’d better pack a box lunch and bring your pajamas.
The restless crowd outside the committee meeting room grew impatient waiting for the Feb. 4 meeting to begin. The official meeting time is 8 p.m.
The doors finally swung open around 8:30, when the committee members emerged from a closed session, with no explanation of where they had been for so long.
And that was just the beginning.
The marathon meeting went on for hours as committee members mulled over each item on the agenda and traded occasional barbs.
Granted, residents are given the opportunity to speak at the beginning of the meeting, when the floor is opened up to the public for a half hour.
But once that’s done, they can expect to sit for hours, listening to committee members discuss ordinances that apparently some have not been given adequate time to review.
It’s obvious there is too much on the committee’s plate to squeeze into one meeting every two weeks.
It would be in the best interest of the residents for the committee to hold four meetings a month, two workshops and two regular meetings, rather than just two.
Mayor Nancy Grbelja had to postpone a number of items at the Jan. 21 meeting. It was already 11:15 and the committee still had a number of items to consider.
She made an announcement at the start of the Feb. 4 meeting that there would be a limit on public comment because there was so much on the agenda.
She didn’t stop there. The mayor also put a limit on what could be discussed. No politics, or you’re ruled out of order, she said.
Limiting public comment at a public meeting to a particular time and topic is not a good idea.
And it could be avoided if the committee met four times a month. Workshop meetings would give committee members a chance to ask all the questions they want, without keeping residents in town hall up half the night.
Many towns, some smaller than Millstone, either hold a separate workshop meeting or schedule a workshop session before the regular meeting. There’s no reason Millstone can’t do the same.