Pine City Council to meet once a month in July, August

The Pine City Council will test the waters of moving to one meeting a month in July and August after a decision made on Wednesday night.

Mayor Kent Bombard brought forward the idea to "meet in the middle" from previous council discussions about the meeting schedule.

"If we crash and burn, then we go back to two, but if not, maybe we continue on," Bombard said.

Council member Kyle Palmer expressed concerns about dropping down to one meeting a month, citing the council's recent rate of special meetings.

"On top of that, if stuff has to get done, or we need to follow up on things, that's a long gap," Palmer said. "Especially if people need to get things approved in that meantime."

Palmer said he'd like to see two evening meetings a month where the council can take action on business items.

"I'm really nervous from going away from two meetings," Palmer said. "I think there's stuff that's falling through the gaps. I think we're having special meetings. It'd be nice if we didn't have to have special meetings, if we could just have normal meetings and get the actions done, instead of having to wait a whole other month to drag it on out."

The monthly meeting will be held on the first Wednesday of the month at 6:30 p.m.

The council's morning meetings on the third Thursday of the month were initially conceived for work sessions and planning.

"Planning was one of the main reasons that there was that additional meeting," said council member Gina Pettie. 

Palmer responded by saying that the last May meeting was the first time the council adhered to not taking actions at Thursday meetings.

Council member Dan Swanson said the extra planning time is valuable.

"I still think we have way too much in front of us," Swanson said. "Even if we are starting to come out of the weeds a little bit, there's a lot of short-term, medium-term, and long-term planning and discussing that we could be doing to maybe put ourselves in a situation to get ahead, or even stay caught up."

In previous discussions about the meeting schedule, council member Dave Hill has advocated for moving to one meeting a month.

The council unanimously voted to move forward with one meeting for the next two months.