MONTICELLO — The Village of Monticello Board of Trustees, whose meetings can often become heated, passed a resolution Tuesday aimed at increasing civility during the public comment portion of the board's regular meetings.

The “Resolution Adopting Rules of Conduct For Public Comment” states that:

• Speakers must be recognized by the Mayor;

• Speakers must step to the front of the room and give their name, address and organization, if any;

• Speakers must limit their remarks to five minutes;

• Speakers may not yield any remaining time they may have to another speaker.

• Board members may, with the permission of the Mayor, interrupt a speaker during their remarks but only for the purpose of clarification or information;

• All remarks are to be made to the Village Board as a body and not to any specific member or to staff; and,

• Speakers shall observe the commonly accepted rules of courtesy, decorum, dignity and good taste. No profanities shall be used. No personal, slanderous, boisterous remarks shall be made.

When the board was asked about any existing resolution regarding their own responsibility to be civil with the public and to each other, Town Attorney Michael Davidoff replied, "I know of no Resolution concerning civility between the members of the Board and others, which is in place in any municipality nor do I know of any need for it since municipal officials should be aware of how to react with each other. "

In response to two residents at Tuesday's meeting who objected to the resolution, Mayor Doug Solomon said, "We're not looking to infringe on anybody's First Amendment rights to speak at the meetings. We just want to set some rules of common courtesy."

Long time Monticello resident Danny Thomas said, “I don't think anyone here, or any decent citizen of Monticello, has any problem with rules of decency.” But Thomas expressed deep concern over the five-minute limit to speak.

"It's not necessarily possible to air everything you have to say in five minutes," Thomas said. "I think it (the resolution) is designed to suppress public comment and free speech, and I don't agree with that part of the resolution. I don't think anyone should be put on a time limit." Solomon replied that he and the Board, as well as the Village Manager, are always available to meet and speak with residents outside meetings.

On Wednesday, Trustee Carmen Rue located a 2008 resolution with much of the same language as this new resolution and sent a copy of it to Davidoff.

In other meeting activity, Helen Budrock, Assistant Director and Community Planner of Sullivan Renaissance, congratulated the board on their recent Renaissance award of $250,000 in the Municipal Grant category. She added that there would be an upcoming meeting to explain how the monies will be received and how they can be spent.