Loves Park to change City Council schedule, reducing the number of meetings it holds

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
Get our newsletter

LOVES PARK — The city is changing up how it conducts business, reducing the frequency of City Council meetings to every other week.

City Council members voted 7-0 Monday to approve that change, which goes into effect May 1, 2023.

The move puts Loves Park in line with other similarly sized communities such as Machesney Park, which conducts its business every other week. Belvidere and Rockford city councils also both meet every other week, with committee meetings held on the alternate week.

“We were really the only community that was going every Monday,” Mayor Greg Jury said.

Previously: Is short sweet? Loves Park City Council is done in 15 minutes or less

Loves Park’s City Council has traditionally met every Monday, but that has contributed to the city hosting some of the shortest meetings in the region. The city’s first 26 meetings of the year wrapped up in an average of 13 minutes, according to an analysis of start and end times conducted by the Rock River Current in late June.

By comparison, Machesney Park village board meetings last about a half-hour on average and the city of Belvidere takes a little more than an hour.

Jury expects meetings will still be conducted quickly and efficiently because council members typical get their concerns answered before a measure goes to the council floor.

“We’re still busy. We have businesses that are eager to come here, and a lot of it has to do with our staff and how we get through the process quickly,” Jury said. “Plus, I think a lot of it has to do with how we worked with them through COVID.”

Local government news: Machesney Park approves 10% pay hike for village president, trustees and treasurer

After May 1, meetings will be held the first and third Mondays of each month at Loves Park City Hall, 100 Heart Blvd. Committee meetings are held before the full council meets at 6 p.m.

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas.