By Mark Squibb/March 10, 2022
Folks who tune into the monthly Bay Bulls council meetings may have to adjust their calendars in the coming months, as council is debating changing its meeting day from Monday to another weeknight.
Mayor Neil O’Brien brought the issue forward during the February 16 council meeting, saying that staff requested the meeting day be changed to Wednesdays. Council was agreeable to the change, and briefly discussed whether to change the meeting date to Tuesday or Wednesday.
Currently, council meets on the second Monday of each month.
O’Brien noted that Monday was actually the preferred day for him, but he would make either day work. He said he typically travels home from out of province work on Wednesdays, so that day may be difficult for him. O’Brien landed on Tuesday as the preferred day for him, barring Monday. Tuesday night, however, did not work for councillors Shannon or Keith O’Driscoll.
Town CAO Jennifer Aspell clarified that staff hadn’t requested the change per se, but said that if the meeting date was pushed to Wednesday, if would give council members more time to discuss the agenda and scheduled privilege meetings before the public meeting. Currently, council receives their agendas on Friday.
She noted that changing the meeting day is simple enough, but that if council were to request that they receive their agenda earlier in the week prior to a meeting, the town would also have to move the deadline for submissions.
“It was easier to change the day of the week for the public schedule,” she summarized.
Council agreed to defer the motion until the next meeting — which, coincidentally, will be held on Wednesday, March 16, as the Monday of that week is a holiday.
The discussion was actually the second time this current council has put forward a motion to change the public meeting schedule.
Just prior to the Christmas break, council voted unanimously to move the meeting time from 8 p.m. to 7 p.m.
