By DOTTY NIST
Discussion at the June 9 Walton County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) meeting resulted in direction for a look at BCC meeting procedures and at a possible ban on alcohol on the beach during spring break 2016.
The meeting took place at the South Walton Annex.
District 4 Commissioner Sara Comander brought up the topic of the ban on alcohol consumption on the beach that was imposed during spring break 2015 by Panama City Beach and Bay County. Comander said she had received many emails from constituents who expressed concern about spring breakers shifting over to Walton County as a result of this ban.
She suggested a look at an alcohol ban on Walton County beaches during next year’s spring break. No immediate action was taken.
During a public comment period later in the meeting, Zuma Banks, newly-elected president of the Walton County Taxpayers Association, came forward with comments and a request.
Banks noted that questions had been raised about policies and procedures in connection with people addressing the BCC. She said the WCTA had been unable to pinpoint the policies and procedures being used by the BCC in this regard.
Banks suggested a meeting on the topic to include the following parties: WCTA Executive Director Bob Hudson, possibly a representative of the South Walton Community Council, BCC Chairman Bill Imfeld, Walton County Administrator Larry Jones, and Walton County Attorney Mark Davis.
In response, District 2 Commissioner Cecilia Jones commented that it was her understanding that people addressing the BCC normally were allowed three or five minutes. She observed that, as at a recent meeting concerning the coastal dune lakes, people representing groups such as the Coastal Dune Lake Advisory Board have often done a great deal of research. Jones suggested allowing people representing a group additional time.
District 5 Commissioner Cindy Meadows said she had recently looked at a manual of county policies which stated that attendees at meetings could donate their time to another speaker. This procedure had been disallowed at recent BCC meetings.
Meadows indicated that she was not opposed to the meeting outlined by Banks but said that her request would be that the meeting policies also be brought before all the commissioners for a decision on “how we’re going to conduct these meetings.”
Bob Hudson came forward to clarify the objective of the meeting requested by Banks. He said the WCTA was not trying to dictate meeting policies but instead to “gather” what the existing rules are. He gave the examples of whether the BCC follows Roberts Rules of Order and whether the chairman is able to declare a recess “on his own.”
Hudson said the goal of the meeting would be to determine what procedures would be in the best interest of the BCC and to work with the commissioners “in a fair and equitable way.”
Direction was provided for the requested meeting to be set up, with Commissioner Jones also suggesting the inclusion of representatives of other interested community groups such as the Walton County Small Business Association.
