When council meetings resume this year, they will be conducted in the evening, as a result of a recent decision by councillors.
In November, council deferred approving its meeting schedule for 2024 until staff provided an analysis of public participation, online and in-person at town hall, as well as statistics for attendance at council and committee-of-the-whole meetings.
Council received that information at its last meeting of 2023, and voted to revert to tradition — holding meetings in the evening, beginning at 6 p.m.
In 2023, a decision of this new council meant most meetings were held Tuesday mornings and could stretch on for hours. But councillors agreed last month that the bulk of business being done before noon interferes with their own day jobs.
Coun. Maria Mavridis said she’s glad they took the trial run in 2023, but with “closed session after closed session,” and Mavridis sitting on six committees, it’s more convenient for her to attend council and committee meetings starting at 6 p.m.
“It was great in theory, but now looking at it, it does prevent us from doing our daytime jobs,” she said.
Coun. Nick Ruller also said it was “worth doing it,” referring to the experiment of moving to morning meetings in 2023 — but looks forward to sitting down in the council chamber in 2024 later in the day.
Coun. Wendy Cheropita moved that council choose the option to return to nighttime meetings, which was not recommended by staff.
“We should all be in the council chambers,” she said, referring to issues colleagues have with conflicting council and personal schedules.
Staff said daytime meetings offered an annual savings of over $10,000 — but added that senior administration at town hall don’t get paid for overtime.
They mostly work “extra for free” during evening meetings, said chief administrative officer Marnie Cluckie, adding this happens after staffers quickly use up their lieu time.
In staff’s analysis of statistics, recorded and live views of meetings was “down significantly” in 2023, said Cluckie.
“It’s hard to know definitively why,” she said, noting that numbers were possibly up in 2021 due to the pandemic. She also said viewership was likely more in 2022 due to it being an election year.
“It is pertinent to note that from 2021 until April 2022, all meetings were virtual-only due to the pandemic; this would have invariably increased the livestream viewership numbers. It is to be expected that the 2022 municipal election would also have had an upward effect on viewership numbers,” reads the staff report.
Attendance at council and committee of the whole for daytime meetings, held from May to November 2023, stood at 93.5 per cent, based on the members present at roll call.
Attendance at evening meetings, held from December 2022 to April 2023, was 95.5 per cent.
The most-viewed meeting of 2021 was on Oct. 25 when 292 people tuned in to watch, among other issues, a discussion about outdoor skating rinks on town property, and an extension to the Anderson Lane fire station.
On April 25, 2022, 286 sets of eyes watched that evening’s council meeting — either live or recorded — as the most viewed meeting of that year. The town discussed and approved a coyote management plan that night, and resident Scott Robinson spoke to councillors about remedying the housing affordability crisis in town. Also Clare Cameron, on council during its last term and the deputy lord mayor, said she would not be running in the election that year.
In 2023, the July 25 meeting drew the most viewership for the year, drawing just 83 people who heard the approval of the strategic plan, with its goals and priorities to shape the future of NOTL, and the need for more town-organized programs and activities for families and youth.