A new time and a once-a-month regular meeting schedule will begin next week for the Ripon City Council.

On Tuesday, July 14, elected leaders will convene at 6 p.m. inside the Council Chambers, 259 N. Wilma Ave.

The change will be conducted on a trial basis and evaluated at the January 2016 meeting. Council members, by then, will have an option of staying put with the change or reinstating the two meetings per month schedule.

For years, they met twice monthly at the same location but an hour later at 7 o’clock.

Mayor Leo Zuber recommended the change about two months ago.

He and his colleagues are hoping that the change would be an effective use of both time and man power.

Staff, on the average, had been spending about one week to prepare for the two regular scheduled meetings.

Council estimated that half of each month was staff devoting that time to the public sessions.

By reducing the frequency to once a month, Zuber noted that the 50 to 60 hours per month by staff – that’s the estimated time used by staff during the twice-a-month plan – could be aligned for other city business.

Prior to voting on the plan, Council looked at the pros and cons.

The one meeting per month would mean less access to the meetings, which are usually lightly attended, but longer time per meetings. Because of that, staff could have more time conducting workshops.

The two meetings a month allowed for additional access for the public and shorter sessions. Staff, given the shorter duration between meetings, also had to schedule workshops on the same night as that of the regular Council sessions.

For more information, call Ripon City Hall at 209.599.2108 or log on to www.cityofripon.org.