Snow Predicted, May Affect Monday Meeting

The weather forecast for the next few days points to probable rescheduling of Monday's City Council meeting and the likelihood of yet another double meeting on March 10.

The double meetings - a 6 p.m. executive portion and an agenda-fixing session immediately followed by a regular meeting - tend to be very long and yet not affording enough time to delve fully into agenda items. At the February meeting, the Legal Shield issue took up about one-fourth of the meeting, even though the governing body had no role other than to recommend action by the administration.

It can be quite tiring, especially for older people, to stand in the hallway waiting for the council to come out of closed session. Only the dedicated or those who have items on the agenda are likely to stick around waiting for the meeting to open to the public.

For many decades, there were two regular Monday meetings per month,  with agenda sessions on preceding Mondays. In 2007, the council moved to a Monday-Wednesday schedule which caused a sharp decline in attendance by the public. The current schedule of just one regular meeting per month meets the minimum requirement in the city's special charter, but does not always afford time to discuss important items on the agenda.

This has been a very trying winter, between all the storms and now all the potholes. But Spring is coming in three weeks and maybe we can put it all behind us.

--Bernice