By MADDY VITALE
City Council is giving Ocean City residents two new options for the bimonthly meetings starting in 2024.
Council approved a resolution on Dec. 7 for its first meeting of the month to be held at 6 p.m. and the second meeting at 10 a.m. Council normally meets the second and fourth Thursdays of the month.
“The change in the meeting time was important for folks who can’t get there in the evening. Now, they will have the opportunity to go in the morning,” City Council President Pete Madden said in an interview Sunday. “For those who can’t get there in the morning, they will have the opportunity to go in the evening.”
Earlier this year, Council changed the time of the meeting from a 7 p.m. start to 6 p.m.
While switching the Council meeting time to 6 p.m. has proved successful, giving members and the community a more convenient start time, Council members agreed that there should be another time for the second meeting, Madden said.
There were a small number of special meetings held at noon during the year and Council considered a noon start time for the second meeting of the month.
However, Council found that noon was not a good time for the meetings because it was in the middle of the workday, Madden noted.
“We thought 10 in the morning would be easier from the standpoint of starting the day, instead of having people come in the middle of the workday,” he said. “This way, they can come to the morning meeting and then start their workday.”
Madden emphasized that no matter what the meeting start time is, Council “can always be contacted by the public by cellphone and email.”
And if the morning start time for the second meeting of the month does not work out, Council can change it, he noted.
“Like any of the ordinances and other things we put in place, we can always change it to something different if we need to,” he said.
For more information about Ocean City, visit ocnj.us.
