A clock in the Lawrence City Commission chambers.

Time flies when you are at the podium. In fact, Lawrence City commissioners said at their meetings that it sometimes flies and flies and flies …

But beginning next week, commissioners may take some steps to keep public comments a bit more grounded.

Commissioners are expected to have a special clock installed in the commission chambers to show speakers how long they’ve been addressing the commission. The clock likely is the first step toward creating formal time limits for members of the public who address the commission.

“Often times, people spend way longer than they need to on a particular issue,” said Commissioner Aron Cromwell. “A lot of times, they don’t realize they aren’t helping their cause by talking so long, but rather are watering down their point.

“It is a real necessity to remind people, as a courtesy to everyone, to be brief,” Cromwell said.

Mayor Rob Chestnut said he expects to begin testing the clock at Tuesday’s meeting. He said he’ll want to talk with the commission about creating formal time limits for the future, but said he’s open to the idea of limiting public speaking time to about five minutes per person, except in special circumstances.

He said he’s concerned the length of commission meetings, which often have lasted for more than four hours, is discouraging a broad cross-section of the community from participating.

“I’m hoping this will enhance public comment because I know there have been situations where people want to speak, but they didn’t even come to the meeting because they couldn’t predict when an item would come up or they knew they would have to wait two-and-a-half to three hours,” Chestnut said.

Commissioners said they were still committed to ensuring that all the members of the public who wanted to speak on an issue would be allowed to do so.

“We want to make sure we hear from all of them,” Commissioner Mike Amyx said. “And we want to give them enough time to talk, but we don’t necessarily want any one person dominating an issue.”

Commissioners already suggest that speakers limit comments to about three minutes, but it is not uncommon for some speakers to go on for 15 minutes or more.

Thus far, the Lawrence-Douglas County League of Women Voters, which monitors local governments for openness, is willing to give the idea a try.

“I have heard of people having to wait three hours to speak,” said Kay Hale, co-president of the league. “It is worth evaluating, insofar that it could provide an opportunity for more people to speak.”

But Hale said she would have serious concerns if the City Commission attempted to regulate the content of public speakers.

Over the last several weeks, commissioners have noticeably bristled over public comments made that have criticized certain city employees — police officers and building inspectors — by name.

Chestnut said he doesn’t think it is fair for speakers to criticize employees who aren’t present to defend themselves. He said he may start suggesting to those speakers that they make an appointment with the city manager, a commissioner or other appropriate city leader.

But some commissioners said they didn’t feel it would be appropriate to try to stop people from publicly criticizing city employees.

“I think they should explore other avenues first, but I think that is a right that ought to be preserved,” Cromwell said.