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After several contentious meetings in recent months, including two where police escorted a resident from the meeting, Wrightsville Borough Council is discussing moving public comment for items not on the agenda to the end of its meetings.
Council member Don Bair raised the issue at councilâs July 19 meeting, initially favoring moving all public comments to the end of the meeting. He said public comments are frequently about issues on the agenda, and people can listen to council discuss and debate the issues.
âTheyâll be more informed about whatâs going on,â he said, adding that it also would âstreamlineâ meetings.
A year ago, as Pennsylvania restricted restaurants and bars to minimize spread of COVID-19, Wrightsville Borough Council suspended the boroughâs open container law in an effort to boost business for local establishments.
Now with COVID-19 cases receding, people getting vaccinated and the state opening up, Borough Council discussed at its May 17 meeting whether or not to reinstate the open container law.
If it were up to council President Eric J. White, he would extend the suspension for another six months âjust to get us through the summer.â
âWeâve had good results with this,â he said. âPeople seem to like it.â
Wrightsville Borough Council President Eric J. White stopped the April 5 council meeting and called 911 after a resident interrupted a discussion of a resolution pressuring the local municipal authority to sell the water and sewer systems to a private company.
White banged his gavel several times and told Mel McDonald that she was not allowed to comment on the matter. Public comment was held at the beginning of the meeting, at which time McDonald was the sole resident to offer any.
McDonald, wife of council member Rick McDonald, who has attended meetings via conference call during the pandemic, refused to leave voluntarily even after Vice President Frederick C. Smith Jr. asked her politely.
The president of Wrightsville Borough Council announced at the regular Dec. 7 council meeting that he had been hospitalized with COVID-19 in November, less than a week after attending a planning meeting.
Council President Eric J. White also accused the wife of a fellow council member of lying about when White had been diagnosed. In the Wrightsville Rants and Raves Facebook group, Mel McDonald, wife of council member Rick McDonald, said White attended the Nov. 16 planning meeting knowing he was positive for coronavirus.
On Dec. 7, White forcefully disputed a âpublic misconception,â saying he tested positive for COVID on Wednesday, Nov. 18, and was hospitalized on Friday, Nov. 20. He has since fully recovered.