Cold Lake city council is considering moving its meetings one hour earlier, but not without discussion about public access, councillor schedules and the realities of late-night decision-making.

Council gave first reading to Bylaw No. 908-BD-26, an amendment to the City’s procedure bylaw that would move council meeting start times from 6 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Administration said the bylaw was drafted to apply consistently to all three council meeting types, rather than having different start times for different meetings.

“If we had different start times, sometimes it can draw errors,” administration said, noting consistency would help avoid confusion between regular council and Corporate Priorities Committee meetings.

Councillor Chris Vining said he saw value in keeping all meeting times the same if council chooses to make a change.

“I think consistency is important,” Vining said. “If you are going to move one, I do think you kind of got to move all.”

Mayor Bob Mattice raised concerns about public access, particularly for people working until 5 p.m. or later.

“I’m a little bit concerned with having a 5:00 meeting when people work till 5:00 or later have trouble coming to council to ask questions or to be a delegation,” Mattice said.

Councillor Vicky Lefebvre said she was comfortable with a 5 p.m. start, especially given that meetings are livestreamed and available for viewing.

“I don’t see a problem moving it till 5,” Lefebvre said. “My own personal thing is either all at 5 or none at 5 because if one’s at 5 and one’s at 6, it’s confusing enough.”

Councillor Dawn Weber said the proposal came from concerns about long meetings and decision-making fatigue.

“I was starting to feel like sometimes the late nights, just running out of the social battery and the steam for making important decisions,” Weber said.

The bylaw received first reading only. It will return to council before any meeting time change becomes final.