You may be too busy to pay attention to what’s coming up at our County Commissioner meetings, and then may be surprised later about what was approved! My goal is to report on key happenings at the State and County Level that will impact our future in St. Johns County.
Today’s focus is on how to keep up with what’s being discussed at the Board of County Commissioner (BOCC) Meetings and how to participate if you desire.
There are two ways to keep up with what will be discussed at the BOCC meetings. Both requirement time and commitment.
The first is to check out the County’s Neighborhood Bill of Rights Notices. These are published notices about Zoning related items that will impact neighborhoods, will be on the Planning and Zoning Agency (PZA) agenda or on the BOCC Agenda. Neighborhood Bill of Rights Notices can be found here:
The second is to check the posted Agendas.
The full year’s calendar of County Commissioner meetings can be found here:
Agendas are usually published a few days prior to the meeting. You’ll have to check to see if they are posted. The published Agendas can be found here:
Following the meetings, prior approved Board Meeting Minutes can be found here:
If you want to participate in the meetings, they are conducted in the County Auditorium at 500 San Sebastian View, St. Augustine, FL. To participate, be prepared to speak for no more than 3 minutes on any of the specific agenda items or no more than 3 minutes during general Public Comment time.
Recently, the Commissioners have added a “Time Certain” slot of 30 minutes at 11:30 for public comment. This was in reaction to concerns from the community that Public Comment has been at the end of the meeting. Because BOCC meetings can go for a few hours, this has meant that residents may have to sit for hours waiting on the opportunity to provide their public comment. Let’s watch and see how this goes.
If you just want to observe the meetings and not participate, you can watch them live on local PBS stations, or anytime after the original date at this link:
My goal this year is to provide advance notice of items on the agenda and summaries after the meeting about key elements.
Follow along!
Beth Tate 