Planning Board debates late submissions; staff to draft 3PM Monday cutoff and agenda item for 'after-the-fact' packets

SACO, Maine
At its Jan. 13 meeting the Saco Planning Board reviewed its Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) language addressing late submissions and "after-the-fact" packets and directed staff to draft a formal revision.

Staff explained the operational difficulty of receiving voluminous materials at the meeting and recommended a practical cutoff for late submissions so material can be digitized, uploaded and distributed to board members. "I would recommend that we do a cutoff for after the fact packet of 3PM on Monday, the day before the meeting because we can organize it and put a digital requirement on it," the city planner said.

Board members agreed the proposal balances public participation and administrative capacity. Several members asked that the SOP include an agenda line to identify late submissions at the start of meetings, allowing the board to decide whether to table items that are too large to consider that evening. Some members also supported a mechanism to grant additional speaking time to members of the public who provide documentary submissions on time; the board discussed allowing the board to vote to suspend rules and grant extra time when the material presented is substantive.

"If someone submits by 3PM on Monday, that should entitle them to have time at the podium to present what they submitted," a board member said, arguing that well-prepared public submissions deserve an opportunity to be heard.

Next steps: Staff agreed to draft SOP language incorporating an after-the-fact agenda item, a 3PM Monday digital submission deadline and a narrowly defined process for the board to vote to permit extended public-comment time. Staff expects to bring a draft revision to a future meeting (possible draft on Feb. 3 for implementation Feb. 17).