Corbett wants Cedar Rapids council to keep late-afternoon start time for meetings

CEDAR RAPIDS - Mayor Ron Corbett likes earlier meetings rather than later ones.

As a result, he is proposing that the City Council shift the starting time for its two-a-month, formal council meetings from 5:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. from September through the end of the year. The matter is on this week's council consent agenda, which is where routine items land that get approval without discussion.

This summer, the council is experimenting with early start times, with the meeting on the second Tuesday of the month at noon, and the one on the fourth Tuesday of the month at 4:30 p.m.

Council meetings had started at 5:30 p.m. before this summer.

Corbett says he likes starting one of the council's monthly meetings at noon, but the remodeling of the new City Hall from its former use as a federal courthouse will prevent noon meetings this fall and winter, he says.