Tuesday night's Bellevue Council meeting was, in every way, classic Bellevue Council.

All the elements were there: off the cuff motions, nobody showing up for a hearing, documents not distributed, a procedural change that created complete confusion and, after three or so hours, an extended debate over some trvial thing.

David Gillingham Jr. could have been the hero of the hour, if his idea to reduce the sewer surcharge had had any substance whatsoever. After months of discussion, however, you just don't throw a monkey wrench into the budget machinery at the last minute. What he needed was a lot more than just talk and meaningless gestures. He needed to produce an alternative budget plan that would work with a reduced surcharge.

Communication apparently remains a major problem among officials. Several citizens (including The Citizen) knew to show up at 6:30 p.m. for a public hearing, but Gillingham and DAS Doug Sample were the only officials there -- and we suspect that was unintentional.

It also probably was not the best time to change the ordinance adoption procedure, and especially not without informing council in great detail of this new interpretation beforehand. I'm not saying that the interpretation is wrong -- it's just different, and Bellevue Council does not do well with different when they are caught by surprise in a public meeting.

Of somewhat more concern was the fact that a proposal from an EMS provider delivered to the borough a month ago was never distributed to council until that night, and only because Linda Woshner asked where it was. A competitor's proposal had no problem making its way into council's hands. The fact that Bellevue Council is even looking at proposals from EMS providers is of some concern, and their choice could have a massive impact on Bellevue residents. It is an issue we at The Citizen will be following closely in the weeks to come.

It was somewhat amusing to see new DAS Doug Sample experience Bellevue Council in its classic form. There comes a point in every DAS's employment where he/she seriously questions his career path in Bellevue. It looked like Sample had that moment Tuesday night. All we can say is, hang in there. You get used to them after five or 10 years.

And finally, there is the moment when council has moved painfully through the agenda, at last reaching those last few items that are thrown in at the end just in case: "Old Business" and "New Business." For council's information, no one really expects -- or wants -- you to bring something up under these topics, at least not if it's something that's going to require discussion for longer than 30 seconds. After a three-hour meeting, there's just nothing you can say that is that important.

Unfortunately, a simple request for council members to have keys to the borough hall so that they can access their mailboxes turned into a lengthy debate. I can't tell you what the outcome was, because I left.

I can only take so much of classic Bellevue Council.