Sarnia council took care of some housekeeping items during an hour-long special meeting on Wednesday.
The new group, which had its inaugural meeting Tuesday, adopted a meeting schedule for the next year that introduces predominately four-week intervals between regular meetings.
Councillor Anne Marie Gillis supported the idea, but asked for an alteration.
"I would be in favour of the four week [schedule], however, I would like to see council get their [agenda] package much earlier than it gets right now," said Gillis.
Councillor Brian White said he was willing to try the new schedule for a one year period.
"I think it's important that we recognize over the years that we've asked staff to do a lot more work with fewer resources, and this is certainly one way that we can streamline the process for staff," said White.
Council currently has a meeting schedule with about three-week intervals between regular meetings.
Councillor Terry Burrell voted against lengthening the time between meetings.
"If anything, I think we should be meeting more often, not less often," said Burrell. "The business of the city is ongoing and if you go to this once a month schedule... what happens if something has to get deferred for whatever reason? It's a whole month before it ever gets addressed."
Council amended the recommendation to include direction that the agenda be issued two weeks before a meeting, and the delegation list be set one week before a meeting, starting in January 2023.
The group decided its meetings for the first year of this term will start at 1 p.m.
Council directed staff to undertake a review of the procedure by-law with the help of a committee of local people.
An RFP [Request for Proposals] will be issued for integrity commissioner services that includes a draft code of conduct for advisory committee members. The agreement with the current integrity commissioner, Paul Watson, expires March 31, 2023.
Staff were also directed to move forward with the recruitment of members for boards and committees.