Beaver Dam Council Meetings Could Start Earlier Next Year

(Beaver Dam) Beaver Dam Common Council meetings may start a half hour earlier next year. The current start time is 8pm and, if approved by the council next month, the gavel would fall at 7:30pm. City officials have indicated that 8pm may be too late for public participation and have noted that current meetings run too late. Original wording in the ordinance change would also have switched meeting nights from fist and third Mondays to second and fourth Mondays. That idea failed to gain traction in committee because of its conflict with Beaver Dam School Board meetings. The proposed change stemmed from discussions by the council to allow the public more time to comment on proposed measures. Under the current structure, some alderpersons have criticized that some resolutions go directly from committee to the council floor in the same night. However, the ordinance that saw a first reading this week would not address that situation. Instead, the Administrative Committee is expected to discuss ways that matter at their January meeting.