Township considering earlier start for meetings

The Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees is considering moving the starting time for township board meetings to 6:30 p.m. rather than the current 7 p.m. starting time for meetings.

While no formal vote was taken on the issue at the Monday, July 28, meeting, the idea of moving the meetings to an earlier starting time was raised by township clerk Martin Brook.

Brook told trustees that he had surveyed a number of communities in Oakland County and found varied starting times for the governing board meetings, some as early as 6 p.m.

The clerk said he suggested the earlier starting times and said he felt the public would still have time to attend the start of meetings.

The proposal did receive some pushback from trustee Mark Antakli who raised the issue of rush hour traffic for residents leaving work to attend meetings and also noted that some schools were requiring students to attend meetings which could pose a problem for student athletes.

Trustee Chris Kolinski appeared to favor the earlier start and noted that some meetings run late and an earlier start would allow trustees to have a “fresh(er) perspective” when deciding issues.

Overall, comments by board members seemed to be in support of the earlier starting time.

At the suggestion of township supervisor Mike McCready, the board agreed to table the issue to allow for possible public input and for township treasurer Michael Schostak, who was not at the Monday meeting, to weigh in on the issue.