Newport is testing the waters on a new meeting start time this year.
Meetings will begin at 6:30 p.m. instead of 7 p.m., as they have in the past. Newport Manager John Hayden said this change aims to allow more of a buffer on public comment time during meetings.
“I find that the later we start a meeting, certainly at seven o’clock, and there’s a significant input we could get to 9:30, 10 o’clock and when it happens like that, just human nature, we start turning our minds off,” he said.
Hayden said depending on how well this change is received over the next one to two years, the city might consider making the start time even earlier at 6 p.m.