Lawrence City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St., Thursday, July 7, 2016

When residents approach the podium to speak their mind at future Lawrence City Commission meetings, they will also be faced with a time limit.

“We’ve got to pare down somehow,” Mayor Leslie Soden said at the commission’s meeting Tuesday as the clock ticked past 11 p.m.

The last several commission meetings have approached six hours in length, and Soden asked the commission to reconsider the meeting format and schedule. Commissioners ultimately agreed to bring back a timer known as the “shot clock,” which limits public comment to three minutes per person. The clock was eliminated two years ago by former Mayor Jeremy Farmer, and since then the time limit has been enforced less strictly.

Following lengthy comments from the public at a meeting earlier this month, the commission did not adjourn until well after midnight. Commissioner Matthew Herbert said he didn’t think it was wise to be making big decisions that late.

“I have some real concerns about me or anyone else up here — whether it be me or city commissioners down the road — making huge budgetary decisions at 12:30 in the morning after they’ve been at work all day,” Herbert said.

Under a schedule change passed in June 2016, there are no commission meetings after the third week of every month. Although Soden was open to adding another meeting or changing the commission’s monthly work session back to a regular meeting, other commissioners were hesitant.

“We have a lot to do, but I’m not sure that having more meetings is going to make us more productive,” Vice Mayor Stuart Boley said, adding that he thinks commissioners also need to have more efficient discussions. “We also need to think about how we’re moving the issues along.”

Although commissioners said they don’t want to limit public comment, they agreed it was one way to help meetings stay within a reasonable time frame and maintain the new meeting schedule and work sessions. Herbert said he didn’t think enforcing the time limit on public comment was uncommon or deterred public comment.

“I would say it’s quite the opposite,” Herbert said. “It encourages me to come to a meeting when I know I don’t have to sit through three hours of other people before I can stand up.”