A large crowd filled council chambers Tuesday night anticipating debate over a proposed sleeping cabin pilot project and its location but discussion was delayed.

The notice of motion was put over to Port Hope council's Nov. 21 committee-of-the-whole meeting. Notice of motions are regularly put over to the next meeting unless the rules of procedure are suspended and the issue is debated on the spot.

Port Hope council received a staff report at its Oct. 17 meeting for information purposes regarding potential sites for the pilot project, including the former George Hamilton Public School at 3200 County Road 10 in Welcome north of Highway 401. The property would be used for four cabins during a six-month pilot project.

Coun. Claire Holloway-Wadhwani said at the time she would be bringing the notice of motion to the Nov. 7 meeting and that she would ask council to consider waiving the normal two-week waiting period on a notice of motion so that discussion could take place immediately.

On Tuesday night, she opted not to ask council to amend the procedure and instead wait until Nov. 21 to discuss the motion, suggesting many residents showed up expecting for the item to be debated while others anticipated it not being until two weeks from now.

Coun. Holloway-Wadhwani encouraged anyone for or against the location of the pilot project to email clerk@porthope.ca or contact members of council to ask questions or share their opinions.

Amidst constant disruptions from the gallery, including some members citing a lack of transparency, Deputy Mayor Todd Attridge explained there was no guarantee the motion would be discussed at the meeting, adding even if a request is made to have the rules of order suspended, that would still require two-thirds support of council to happen.

The only thing guaranteed, Attridge added, is a notice of motion will be discussed at the following meeting.

Listen to the audio report below: