Castlegar city council is going to alter the timeline that their committee of the whole and council meetings will be held for at least the next six months.
Committee of the whole meetings will be held the first Monday of each month at 5:30 p.m. and council meetings will be held the third Monday of the month at 7 p.m.
If something arises at the committee of the whole meeting that needs to be addressed urgently, council has the option to resolve into a regular council meeting and pass the motion the same night. Otherwise, motions will move forward at the next regular council meeting two weeks later.
Back in August, council decided to move from a format that saw each committee (finance, planning, green etc.) meet individually on different days and then bring their recommendations forward at a council meeting to a format where all of the committees meet together as a whole.
This format has meant long committee meetings, but shorter council meetings as items that have been agreed to in the committee meetings can be passed as a block at that night’s council meeting.
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Council has been meeting for the committee of the whole meetings at 1:30 p.m. on the first and third Mondays followed by a council meeting at 7 p.m.
Concerns were raised that the 1:30 p.m. time currently in use for the committee meetings made it difficult for the public to attend, so council is hoping more people will show up for the evening meetings.
However, based on the length of committee meetings of recent months, those once-a-month committee meetings have the potential of lasting for four hours or more.
Council is also moving forward with plans to purchase new sound equipment and cameras in order to broadcast meetings. Staff will be developing request for propsal guidlines in the coming weeks.
betsy.kline@castlegarnews.com
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