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Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette
Hancock City Manager Mary Babcock discusses the possible move to one city council meeting per month at Wednesday's meeting. The council voted to go back to one meeting per month on the third Wednesday, as had been the practice before 2021.
HANCOCK -- Hancock City Council meetings will be pared back to one a month.
The council voted Wednesday night to go back to regular meetings on the third Wednesday.
Meetings had also been held on the first Wednesday of the month since the start of 2021. Council members said the extra meeting had been added to avoid the extreme length of the meetings, which often exceeded three hours.
Hancock's charter only requires a meeting on the third Wednesday.
Wednesday's vote was 5-2, with Mayor Paul LaBine and Councilor Whitney Warstler opposing the move.
"I like two, because it's an insurance that they're not going to be really long, because none of us do well with two-, three-, four-hourlong meetings," Warstler said.
At previous meetings, councilors said the reduced meeting schedule would be more feasible now that time-consuming items such as the city's new zoning ordinance have been resolved.
The council used to have work sessions before the meetings, which had also contributed to the long evenings, Councilor Lisa McKenzie said.
Councilor Ron Blau said having fewer meetings would be helpful to City Manager Mary Babcock and city staff.
"You'll be surprised what you don't put in there that you don't have to put in there," he said. "Sometimes it feels like you're trying to fill the agenda."
That has happened at times, Babcock said. However, she said, the council may need to meet more frequently in summer because of grant applications and payment requirements. The council could schedule special meetings on the first Wednesday if needed, she said.
The council will still meet the first Wednesday in May. A budget hearing previously scheduled for April 26 was rescheduled so members could attend a workshop.
In other action, the council:
• Approved a $34,000 Redevelopment Ready Communities Technical Assistance Match Funding Grant for the master plan process. The money will be used to pay Progressive AE, which conducted two public brainstorming sessions last week and is preparing a report on its findings.
The city is also conducting an online survey for residents, with a link available at cityofhancock.com.
• Rescheduled the public hearing on the city's wind and solar ordinance to 6 p.m. May 17.
• Approved Pyrotecnico Fireworks' application for a fireworks display permit for Bridgefest by a 6-1 vote.
Warstler, who voted against it, said she wanted the fireworks to be launched further away from homes on the waterfront. Babcock said the company had tried to get a barge this year, but was unsuccessful.
"I think that is a goal, to set them off from the water so that they're more visible for a larger area," she said. "But there's obstacles to that and that takes a different kind of license."
• Heard from Babcock she had signed a letter of support for MTEC SmartZone's application for a $1.5 million grant application to build an advanced manufacturing pilot facility at the Hancock Business & Technology Park.
• Approved a notice of award for MJO Contracting to perform Coastal Zone Management Grant work for $130,860. The city is looking to address erosion issues along the waterfront.