Perry Village Council will increase its number of monthly meetings to two from one, starting in January. The change was recommended by Council President Jean Schonauer. “Because we’ve had so many things going on, and we’ve had to have some special meetings called in order to conduct business in a timely fashion, I’m recommending, at least for the short-term, we put a meeting on the books every two weeks,” Schonauer said, during council’s regular meeting on Dec. 12. Council approved it 5-0. Councilwoman Ashley Hacking was absent from the meeting. With the revised format, Village Council will continue to hold a regular meeting on the second Thursday of each month at 7 p.m., and add a regular meeting on the fourth Thursday of every month at the same time. Schoauer said the second regular meeting of each month could be used strictly as a work session for council, if the group has no legislation to consider. “If we need it, great. If we don’t, we can cancel it,” she said. “But I want to at least keep (7 p.m. on the fourth Thursday of each month) as a standing meeting, so everybody can plan accordingly.” Solicitor James O’Leary said council hopefully will be able to determine at its meetings on the second Thursday of each month about whether it will need to gather again two weeks later. That way, a formal announcement could be made during the meeting to confirm if the second meeting will be held that month. “One of the concerns you have with standing meetings is that if you decide not to have them, how does the general public know that it’s been canceled?” O’Leary said. Scheduling a second regular meeting each month for Village Council also might help shorten the panel’s first meeting , Councilman Rick Walker said. At least three of council’s regular meetings since August, including the one on Dec. 12, have lasted more than two hours each. Schonauer said she plans to retain the schedule of two standing meetings a month until it’s determined that council has satisfied all of its commitments with all of the projects it is working on. “It could be three months. It could be six months,” she said. Mayor James Gessic also suggested that council schedule two regular meetings in September to start working diligently on the village’s 2026 budget. Perry Village Council holds regular meetings during every month of the year except July, when it takes a summer break.