Tomball council to resume 5 p.m. workshops after debate over 4 p.m. start

The Tomball City Council discussed whether to keep workshop start times at 4 p.m. or move them back to 5 p.m. On Sept. 2 council members expressed differing preferences and concerns about public perception, staffing and meeting length; the council informally agreed to schedule workshops at 5 p.m. going forward and to include proposed future-agenda items on the regular meeting agenda so the council can identify items that need fuller discussion.

Why it matters: Workshop start times affect councilmembers’ ability to attend, staff schedules and when substantive policy discussions occur. Councilmembers said start times influence whether members who work daytime jobs can attend and whether meetings run late into the evening.

Discussion highlights: Davin, a city staff presenter, summarized that workshops provide time for in-depth topics such as the budget and major initiatives and asked whether the council wanted a standard start time. Several councilmembers said 5 p.m. is preferable because a 4 p.m. start conflicts with work schedules; one councilmember objected to reverting from 4 p.m. and said they could and would attend early meetings. The mayor said there would be no formal vote that night but that staff would try workshops at 5 p.m., and councilmembers cautioned that meetings could still run to 9 or 10 p.m.

Operational details: Council asked staff to continue adding a brief “proposed future agenda items” section to the regular council meeting so members can pull items for discussion without running multiple lengthy workshops. The council also confirmed monthly updates from the ADC will continue in the regular meeting presentation slot.

Ending: Council agreed to try the 5 p.m. workshop start time and instructed staff to post future-agenda items for the regular meeting; the change was reached by discussion and consensus, not by formal vote or ordinance.