Members prepare to transition to Thursdays

As the Boulder City Council prepares to move its meetings and study sessions to Thursday evenings, the city is taking the necessary procedural steps before it can do so.

The new schedule, which the City Council is set to vote on during its May 17 meeting, would take effect on July 14 after the Council’s summer break.

A number of changes must occur to transition the City Council meeting to a new day of the week. Among those changes are new meeting dates for several city boards.

The Planning Board will now meet on the first, third and fourth Tuesday of the month at 6 p.m. The Board of Zoning and Adjustments will meet on the second Tuesday of the month at 4 p.m.

The Design Advisory Board will meet on the second Wednesday of the month at 4 p.m.

The transition will result in some changes to Planning and Development business processes, said Taylor Reimann, City Council administrator. The city previously noted the change could affect the timeline for callups, approvals and landmarking decisions.

“Not really,” Planning Board Secretary Cindy Spence said when asked whether it would affect any deadlines on the applicants’ side. “It changes some internal deadlines but that’s about it.”

Because the meeting day is changing, so too will the timeline to sign up to speak in public hearings and at open comment.

Sign-up for both will open at 8 a.m. the Friday before the meeting and will close at 2 p.m. the Wednesday before the meeting.

The idea to change the meetings to Thursdays was originally discussed in November 2021. It was suggested by Mayor Aaron Brockett, who said it would make City Council meetings “a more manageable commitment” for City Council members, staff and the community at large.

With packets coming out on Thursday evenings, Council Agenda Committee meetings early Monday and City Council meetings the next night, “it’s just kind of a tough rhythm for everyone involved,” Brockett said in November.

Before the meeting day can officially change, the Council has to approve the code change because Boulder Revised Code specifically states that meetings will occur on the first and third Tuesday of the month.

City officials previously noted that the change means the City Clerk’s Office will need to get legal notices to the Camera the day after the meeting to ensure they run over the weekend so the city can maintain its two week cadence for first and second readings.

Though the regular meetings and study sessions will change, packets for the meeting will continue to come out the Thursday before a meeting.

Additionally, the Council Agenda Committee, in which the mayor, mayor pro tem and a rotating City Council member discuss scheduling matters, will continue to be at 9 a.m. Mondays.