Kincardine Council is streamlining its meetings starting this month.
They’ll also be changing what day of the week they have their meetings on.
Manager of Legislative Services and Clerk Jennifer Lawrie says that moving forward, they’re doing away with their Committee of the Whole meetings, and scheduling two separate meeting agendas at each gathering of the council.
“We will be streamlining our decisionmaking, so everything that a person who’s looking to listen to a council meeting or watch will all be in one session.”
Meetings are also moving from Mondays to Wednesdays at 5 p.m., and they’re changing from three meetings every month down to two.
The decision came after the municipality hired a consultant, who then shared how council operations and meetings could be streamlined and efficient, more transparent, and easier for the public to follow.
She says “Having three meetings a month, staff and council were doing nothing but feeding the meeting machine. And by moving it to two meetings a month, there will be more opportunity for public engagement, there will be more opportunity for more conversations with council before decisions are made.”
Now that the municipality is paring down the number of meetings, it makes creating the agenda for each meeting a more selective process so that the most pressing issues are dealt with promptly.
“For everybody at home, it’s one agenda per evening where everything is covered.”
In streamlining their meetings, the Council will also be more flexible with decision-making and idea-sharing as they shift to use ad hoc committees, which will provide the council with advice on specific topics with clearly defined questions, deadlines, and end dates.
Kincardine council meetings will now be scheduled for the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month at 5 p.m., starting with their meeting on September 13th.
The public is welcome to attend meetings in person at the Municipal Administration Centre, 1475 Concession 5 in Kincardine.
Meetings are also broadcast on Rogers TV on Channel 6 in Kincardine or can be watched on YouTube on the Municipality of Kincardine‘s channel.