Submit a Public Comment

What is Public Comment?

The Public Comment period is a chance to address the Council. If your comment is related to an item to be heard in a public hearing, please plan to speak during that hearing. View the upcoming public hearings.

How Can I Provide a Comment?

In Writing

Submit a public comment using our online form. Comments also may be emailed to the Town Clerk at linda.mckinney@hollyspringsnc.gov. Please submit written comments by 5 p.m. on the Monday before a meeting to ensure that comments can be delivered to the Town Council prior to the meeting. A summary of the comments will be read by the clerk during the meeting. Verbatim comments will be included with the minutes.

In Person

Anyone wishing to address the Council in person should sign up with the Town clerk before the beginning of the meeting to be recognized during Public Comment. Doors open one hour prior to the start of the meeting. If you are unable to arrive during this time, you may sign up at Town Hall on the day of the meeting between 3 and 5 p.m.

Each speaker may only sign up for themselves, and must be present in the Chamber when the Mayor calls their name. Meeting length cannot be accurately predicted, so it is recommended that you arrive when the meeting starts in order not to miss your chance to speak.

Speakers are instructed to limit comments, typically, to three minutes each. Speakers should address the governing body as a whole, and not individual members. No speaker may yield his time to another. As the entire public comment period lasts no more than 30 minutes, that time may be shortened by the Mayor so that everyone may speak. If several people are registered to speak on the same topic, the Mayor or other presiding officer for the meeting may ask that speakers with similar concerns designate a single spokesman to convey those concerns, or the Mayor can ask that speakers who have heard their concerns expressed by previous speakers simply abstain from repeating the same comments.

What will happen with my comment?

Public comments generally are not acted upon at the time they are presented. After hearing comments, the Council may dispose of the matter as follows (receiving the comment does not imply approval, agreement, disagreement, or consent): 

  • Consideration at the current or a future regular meeting of the Council; or
  • Referral to staff, another board or committee for study and report; or
  • Referral to the Town Manager for investigation and report; or
  • Simply received and acknowledged by the Council