CASSOPOLIS — The Cass County Board of Commissioners will be adding — or re-adding, rather — another meeting to its monthly schedule.

The commissioners voted 6-to-1 during their meeting Thursday in Cassopolis to add a second committee of the whole session to the calendar every month. With the vote, the board will now meet in public session four times per month: two regular meetings, which will be a 7 p.m. the first and third Thursday of the month in the commissioners’ chambers of the Cass County Building, and two committee of the whole meetings, which will be at 9 a.m. the first and third Tuesdays of the month in the Kincheloe Room, also in the Cass County Building.

The board will begin hosting the second monthly committee of the whole meeting beginning this month, on Tuesday, Oct. 17.

The decision follows a discussion by the board during last week’s committee of the whole meeting, where the members reviewed changes they had made to the monthly schedule of meetings in spring. The board previously decided to change when it hosts its committee of the whole meeting, from 6 p.m. Thursdays right before its regular meeting to the morning two days prior; in addition, leaders axed the second meeting, consolidating their schedule to three regularly scheduled meetings per month.

In comparison to regular board of commissioner meetings, committee of the whole meetings involve a wider range of discussion about topics and issues that will be voted on during regular sessions. In addition, elected officials, county employees and members of the public are able to more freely provide opinions and input during the discussion.

Several commissioners were heavily in favor of re-adding a second committee of the whole meeting to the schedule, saying that it would give them more time to discuss issues within the county, as well as streamline Thursday meetings.

“The board cannot do too many things without knowing what is going on in the county,” said Vice Chair Skip Dyes, who represents District 3. “The COW is essential for getting that information to the board.”

Administrator Karen Folks said that she believed that the schedule the commissioners had been using the past several months was sufficient, as the board had also been hosting semi-regular work studies to delve into more complex topics, such as those surrounding the renovation and reuse of the county’s vintage courthouse.

However, several commissioners, as well as Cass County Sheriff Richard Behnke, said that adding a second COW should reduce the need for these work studies, as well as give commissioners and other county officials a more stable schedule.

District 1 commissioner Terry Ausra said he opposed the idea of adding second COW to the schedule, and provided the lone vote against the motion to add it Thursday. Ausra said his opposition was due to the fact that he felt that removing the additional discussion from the board’s regular meetings would be a disservice to the general public, who cannot easily attend the 9 a.m. COW sessions.

“The public wants to hear some of that discussion [during the Thursday meeting], but everything is preapproved when we get there,” Ausra said. “I think there is nothing wrong with discussion during the meeting. I think there is a public information segment to it, so they can see where we are coming from.”