· SouthWest Transit offers a public comment period at the beginning of its regular meetings.

· SouthWest Transit does not record or televise the public comment period.

· In order to speak at a public comment period, the speaker’s primary residence or primary workplace must be within the cities of Chanhassen, Chaska, or Eden Prairie.

· Each speaker must sign up before 12:00 noon on the meeting date by contacting customerservice@swtransit.org or 952-949-2287, providing their name, address, a description of the topic the speaker wishes to address, and a summary of the speaker’s intended comments.

· If two or more speakers are addressing the same topic in a manner the presiding officer determines would be supportive of one another, the presiding officer may require the speakers to identify one spokesperson to address the topic for the speakers.

· The presiding officer will recognize each speaker in the order that the speakers signed up.

· When recognized, each speaker must orally identify themselves and the topic that they are addressing.

· Each speaker will have three minutes to speak on their topic. The speaker may not transfer their time to another speaker.

· The public comment period may not exceed 15 minutes in total.

· If the presiding officer does not recognize a speaker at the public comment period due to time constraints on the public comment period, the speaker will not be automatically signed up for the next public comment period. The speaker may sign up for a future public comment period.

· Each speaker must direct their comments to the Board as a whole, not to specific commissioners or any person that is not a member of the Board.

· During the public comment period, the Board and staff listen to comments and will not engage in discussion. Board members or staff may ask questions of the speaker to gain a more-detailed understanding of the speaker’s comments.

· The Board will not allow obscene, profane, or threatening language or comments during the public comment period. The Board reserves the right to take reasonable steps in responding to such conduct.

· The Board will not act at the meeting on matters raised during the public comment period. The Board may refer any matter raised during the public comment period to SouthWest Transit staff for further review. If the Board determines that SouthWest Transit should respond to matters raised during the public comment period, the Board will address those matters at a later time.