FAYETTEVILLE -- City Council members and people who attend the council's semimonthly meetings will now have a better chance of making it home in time for dinner.
Aldermen on Tuesday voted 7-1 to begin council meetings at 5:30 p.m.
At A Glance
Council Action
Fayetteville’s City Council met Tuesday and approved:
• A lease space in the Metro District building, 509 W. Spring St., for up to 18 months at $6,000 per month. The space will be used as offices for the Walton Arts Center.
• Modifying code related to the downtown design overlay district, parking deck requirements and urban residential design standards.
• Allowing trail closures for events operated by nonprofit groups and/or events organized in conjunction with the city.
Source: Staff Report
The council has met at 6 p.m. the first and third Tuesday of the month for 11 years.
Alderman Martin Schoppmeyer, who sponsored the time change, said, "I wanted to coordinate the start times with the City Council and Planning Commission."
The commission meets at 5:30 p.m. the second and fourth Monday of the month.
The change will take effect at the council's May 6 meeting.
Before 2003, the council met at 6:30 p.m. That year, then-Alderman Don Marr proposed an earlier meeting time as one of several steps designed to make government more effective and encourage public participation.
"I can tell you during that time, those council meetings would go from 6:30 to -- we could go as late as 1 in the morning," Mayor Lioneld Jordan, also a former alderman, said Tuesday.
The decision to change the meeting time went much quicker Tuesday than it did in 2003, when aldermen were still debating the time change two months after it was approved.
Tuesday's discussion lasted about three minutes.
"Sounds fine to me," said Alderwoman Adella Gray.
"Great idea," Alan Long added.
Aldermen Mark Kinion and Justin Tennant said meetings shouldn't start any earlier than 5:30 p.m., so residents have enough time to get to the meetings from work.
Matthew Petty was the only council member opposing the change. He said the change means he'll have less time to spend with his daughter the first and third Tuesday of the month. Petty said his daughter is usually asleep by the time council meetings end.
Meetings have averaged 2 hours and 21 minutes during the past three years, according to videos archived by the Fayetteville Government Channel.
The last time a council meeting went past midnight was June 19, 2012, when zoning and development plans for a controversial student housing project at West Cleveland Street and North Hall Avenue was discussed.
NW News on 04/16/2014