McCandless council is considering changing when and how residents can comment at council meetings in an effort to encourage people to speak at council’s committee or agenda review meetings.

The new policy would move the public comment period at voting meetings from the end of the meeting to the beginning. Discussion of issues not on the agenda will continue to be held at the end of the voting meetings during the new business portion.

At committee and agenda review meetings, speakers could contribute at the end. 

“It creates a better workflow instead of having comments all over the place,” town manager Toby Cordek said at council’s March 21 agenda review meeting, which drew about 20 residents.

“We put together a draft based on what most other places have,” William Ries, attorney for the town, said.

Council will meet and discuss the proposed changes April 18, with a vote tentatively scheduled for April 25. If the proposal still needs work, however, the discussion will continue into May.

At council’s voting meeting Monday, Robert Potter, a resident since 1968, spoke about his disappointment over the end of an agreement between the town and Allegheny Land Trust to turn the former Rave Cinema site off McKnight Road into a park.

The agreement called for McCandless to provide $1.25 million to the nonprofit trust so that the trust could buy the 26-acre property, turn it into a wetlands area and educational park, and return it to the town. The land is in a floodplain and is adjacent to the site of a proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter on Blazier Drive.

McCandless council rejected the agreement in January because of costs.

Mr. Potter told council that a wetlands and park would have been beneficial to the community. He blamed the Citizens of McCandless group for opposing the agreement. Mr. Potter said the group mistakenly tied the plan to council’s approval of the Wal-Mart.

“I’m no fan of Wal-Mart by any means,” Mr. Potter said.

“There were grants that would have more than covered most of the project,” he said. “Now we’re left with an asphalt jungle and a building that is falling down. I just wanted to give another point of view.”

Rita Michel, freelance writer: suburbanliving@post-gazette.com

First Published: April 1, 2016, 4:00 a.m.