By Christine Bryant
Staff Writer
Reynoldsburg City Council is considering moving their committee meetings so they will fall on the same nights as regular council meetings.
Currently, council committees – finance, service, safety and community development – meet on the first and third Mondays of each month, with regular council sessions held on the second and fourth Mondays.
However, in an effort to streamline the process, council is considering moving the committee meetings to the second and fourth Mondays of each month following the regular council meetings.
At the June 20 service and finance committee meetings, council members voted in favor of sending the motion to amend the schedule to council for a vote at its next meeting on June 27.
If approved, the changes would go into effect in July.
“We’re willing to give this a try and see how things flow,” council member Barth Cotner said during the finance committee meeting. “I think it can be a positive thing for the city.”
Though the safety and community development committees did not have a meeting June 20, council member Marshall Spalding said he expects those committees to move their meeting dates as well should council approve the change.
Combining the meeting dates has been under consideration for several months. In May, council reviewed a report prepared by clerk of council April Beggerow that detailed how communities in central Ohio handle their committee meetings. While some follow the same schedule as Reynoldsburg’s, others only meet twice a month on the same night as their council meetings or don’t meet at all.
At that May meeting, council members expressed concern about the community’s expectations that council is available the first four Mondays of each month.
However, council also expressed concern that some city department employees are expected to attend the meetings, though are not compensated in pay for that time unless they take comp time. Many regular council meetings only last 10 to 20 minutes, leaving some council members to wonder if it’s a better use of the city’s time to move the committee and regular council meetings to the same evening.
“We are just trying to streamline the process and give it a try,” council member Brett Luzader said during the June 20 service committee meeting. “It may not work and can be changed at any time, so I am willing to give it a try.”
Other news
At the finance committee meeting, members approved a motion to appoint City Attorney Jed Hood and council member Stephen Cicak to the Volunteer Peace Officers Dependents Fund Board. Council will now review this for approval at its next regular council meeting.
Also at the next council meeting, council will review ordinances authorizing and directing the clerk of council to certify unpaid water bills and grass and weed cutting costs for collection by the Franklin and Licking county auditors.
