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Council meeting times changing in new year

More meetings will also be broadcast over Internet

Council meeting times and dates will be changing next year.

Mission’s elected officials unanimously agreed to hold council meetings two times a week on the first and third weeks each month. Regular council meetings, including public hearing, will be held on Mondays at 6 p.m. and Committee of the Whole meetings, as required, are slated for Wednesdays at 3 p.m.

Closed council meetings, if needed, will be held at 2 p.m. on Monday. These are not open to the public.

The changes will free elected officials from council meetings two weeks of the month, allowing them more flexibility in planning other business and personal activities. The increased frequency of meetings will also make it more efficient for business.

This provides better opportunities for folks requiring public hearings, said Mayor Ted Adlem. Currently, a developer could wait up to two months for a public hearing in order to proceed with their work.

The change is also expected to reduce the number of council meetings next year, but staff say the exact number cannot be determined as special meetings sometimes occur.

Council is also increasing the webcasting budget by $6,700 in order to broadcast all public meetings.

Having council meetings mid-day during the week will make it difficult for some people to attend, said Coun. Jeff Jewell, who says streaming the meetings online will solve that problem.

Currently the district has set aside $15,000 to broadcast 30 meetings for the year. The extra funds, which will come from the council contingency budget, will allow the district to show 48-50 meetings.

The district will be publishing a list of scheduled meetings for 2013 soon.