Council authorizes staff to schedule public hearings and display them as information items on agendas

The 2 Rivers City Council voted Nov. 3 to amend municipal code provisions so the city clerk and staff may schedule required public hearings on behalf of the council and advisory bodies. City staff emphasized the change formalizes current practice and does not alter the statutory public-notice timing.

During a public comment from a resident who feared packet-time reductions, staff and the city attorney explained that the ordinance does not shorten notice periods. The ordinance amendments instead remove the procedural step that formerly required the council to call each hearing on a separate agenda and allow staff to administratively set hearing dates while maintaining statutory notice requirements.

Council added direction that scheduled hearings be shown in the agenda's information-only section so citizens who do not receive mailed notices can see upcoming hearings. After discussion about how to ensure some residents outside notification radii remain informed, council waived reading and adopted the ordinance on a roll-call vote.

The ordinance immediately formalizes staff scheduling while preserving statutory notice and the right for affected neighbors to receive mailed notice as required by state law. Staff said they would include scheduled hearings in the information-only section of agendas.