Chase council has been there, done that and won't, therefore, be revisiting a 6 p.m. meeting start time.
After first introducing the idea in August, Coun. Dan Stevens brought a formal motion to the table on Sept. 10 to have one meeting a month start at 6 p.m. to enable more members of the public to attend. He added that it should preferably be the second meeting of each month when council provides the opportunity for the public to speak on municipal matters.
It did not, however, meet with support from most of council.
"I'm not in favour of this because in a previous council we tried this and... when we changed it to six o'clock, basically nobody showed up because it's dinnertime and nobody's coming to a meeting at dinnertime," Coun. Fred Torbohm said. "So it was a total waste of time and there's no way I want to go back to that. It was a waste of time for everybody."
Coun. Jane Herman was more on the fence but did mention the cost associated with having four or five staff members staying late, even if it would be just once a month.
"I wouldn't mind trying it, but I have my doubts as well," she said, with Coun. Colin Connett agreeing, though his concern was about people having to drive home in the dark afterwards.
Mayor David Lepsoe had the same view as Torbohm, pointing out different meeting times have been tried over the years and 4 p.m. seems to have emerged as the best fit for the village.
"Meetings used to be seven for a long time, and they were looking at doing them at one o'clock, and the break even seems to be four o'clock," he said, adding that council members are accessible to the public. "People can get hold of us anytime they want, I'm around 24/7, so I'm not in support of this."
Torbohm reiterated that people don't attend evening meetings, pointing out that in addition to it being dinnertime, it's the last thing most people want to do after work.
"So what's the point? Like I said, it's been tried and it's proven that it doesn't work, I don't know why we'd go back to it again," he said. "It's just ridiculous."
"I would disagree that it's ridiculous," Stevens responded, but despite his efforts the motion was defeated in a 3-2 split with Torbohm, Herman and Lepsoe all opposed.
His follow up motion, however, met with unanimous approval, with the recommendation that meetings be recorded and posted to the website as an alternative way for the community to stay informed at their convenience.
"I think this would be a great opportunity to view the meetings instead of showing up at 6 o'clock," he said. "We have some awesome presentations... and I think everybody in the community should be able to see that."
Going forward, the meetings will be posted online at chasebc.ca.
