After a few attempts at holding meetings online via the platform Zoom, the city council has decided to scrap that format.

Those who wish to attend the meetings, are sent an email containing a link to the meeting. Clicking on the link, at the appropriate time, gains admittance to the meeting after approval by the host, in this case City Clerk Be Ahring.

Ward 2 Alderman Ed Adams is not a fan. “This ain’t worth a (expletive deleted)” he noted as he gained access to a recent public hearing.

Ward 2 Alderman Corey Novotney, the youngest member of the group, offered some tips on how to reduce background noise that made it hard to understand what was being said.

Those tips were apparently ignored, or didn’t help at the next Zoom meeting held last Tuesday. This special meeting was held to finalize the city’s 2021 budget.

Adams was silent for most of the meeting, and didn’t answer questions asked of him by other aldermen.

“This will be the last one of these I attend, I guarantee it,” Adams said near the meetings end.

The board agreed to accommodate Adams’s objections and agreed to hold future meetings at city hall with city personnel present. Only the public will be required to attend via Zoom.

As far as the budget talks went, it was difficult to follow the discussion without documents to follow.

The recurring theme seemed to be that certain things could be paid for with the savings the city will see in their 2021 attorney fees.

The city, and their attorney, have resolutely refused to give tax payers the amount they have paid in the lawsuit the city waged and lost against Bull Moose Tube. On appeal, a settlement was reached with the tube manufacturer last summer. When asked then how the city fared after the legal bill was settled, Adams would not release an amount. He noted that in time, taxpayers could figure it out for themselves.

When released, the  amended 2020 budget and the new 2021 budget might have some clues.