Put the meaning into your own words.

The question seemed innocuous until the disagreement became apparent.

The club took steps to mitigate the disruption by clarifying the rules and offering a new question period. Refreshments might palliate the frustration during a long meeting, but they would not resolve the dispute. A proposed reminder about the deadline was innocuous on its own; the coordinator checked its wording anyway because members were now reading every announcement with unusual suspicion.