Changes in works for meetings

Leaders aiming for more committee reports and appearances by visiting department heads

Madison government leaders are looking to enhance village council meetings this year in a couple of ways.

Council President Duane Frager is asking members to present more committee reports during the meetings. Meanwhile, the administration wants more department heads to appear at council meetings on a rotating basis.

Those changes were discussed during village council’s Jan. 7 meeting.

Frager noted that committee reports from council members at one time occupied a much bigger part of the panel’s meeting agenda. But that practice has dwindled.

“Way back in the day, we had books, it seemed like, added to council packets, of reports and charts and pictures and all kinds of things, and now the pendulum has swung the other way, where we don’t have anything except, occasionally, Councilman (Mark) Vest telling us when there’s a fire board meeting,” Frager said.

Council members serve on committees within village government dealing with topics such as safety, utilities and finance, and occupy seats on areawide panels such as the Madison Fire District Board.

Frager said he wanted to challenge all members of council to revive the tradition of submitting committee reports on a regular basis.

“If you’re part of a committee and there is a meeting, even if it’s a one- or two-sentence report, just give the rest of council an idea of what is going on,” he said.

With the new year getting under way, Frager said he recently spoke with fellow council members and held a follow-up meeting with village Administrator Dwayne Bailey and Mayor Sam Britton to assess how village government is doing in meeting its goals.

He said the importance of delivering regular committee reports was “a sentiment that came from a couple of council people” in those conversations.

Meanwhile, Bailey said another change being made in the format of future council meetings is to have more village department heads attend on a rotating basis and deliver reports.

Police Chief Troy McIntosh has been regularly attending both monthly council meetings — held on the first and third Monday each month at 7:30 p.m. throughout most of the year — and giving reports on his department’s activities.

Bailey said the idea arose from discussion he had with Britton following the same meeting referred to by Frager.

“I think the mayor is of the mindset that we’re going to relieve the police chief from the first meeting of the month and have that seat be a visiting department head to come in and give a brief report from their individual department — the Senior Center, the service director, wastewater and whatnot,” Bailey said. “If you recall, a couple of years ago we started doing that, and it kind of fell by the wayside.”

The village hopes to begin the rotation of visiting department heads during council’s Feb. 4 meeting.

“We’re putting the schedule together now and making sure people can fit it into their individual schedules,” Bailey said.