Council Meeting Structure Changed In Yardley

YARDLEY, PA —When Uri Feiner returned to the Yardley Borough Council after two stints to fill a vacancy, he had a suggestion.

Feiner, in seeking better communication between the borough and its residents, said the council needed to come up with a plan to curb criticism about its lack of transparency and encourage more discussion with residents.

Residents who attend Borough Council meetings have often complained about the borough not being too revealing about information and also about being limited to three minutes during public comment where issues were never really discussed.

Well, Feiner and the residents have gotten their wish.

At its last meeting, the council discussed a change to its meeting structure that will make its debut on Tuesday.

Council President Caroline Thompson announced the new meeting structure in a Facebook post last week.

She said the first meeting of every month will be held to conduct normal council business.

The second meeting of the month will include an abridged agenda followed by working sessions hosted by committees of the council on a rolling basis.

"Our goals with this change in structure are to increase discussion among council members as well as integration of public comment into decision making," Thompson said.

She said that any residents who cannot attend the work session can submit questions on discussion topics to Thompson and Borough Manager Paula Johnson.

Their emails are: Cthompson@yardleyboro.com or pjohnson@yardleyboro.com

The questions will be read and responded to during the meeting, which will be live-streamed and we will follow up with you via email if necessary.

Thompson said the topics for Tuesday's meeting will be the 2024 preliminary budget presentation and public safety regarding police retention and headcount discussion.