Starting tomorrow, residents will find Winkler Mayor Henry Siemens waiting in chambers with a cup of coffee once a month looking to chat. He'll be joined by some councillors and/or city management in a new effort to connect with residents face-to-face.

While Siemens says people do attend their regular public meetings, it isn't often.

"Almost every time afterwards, I hear from people that it was confusing. There was a lot of 'move this' and 'second that', and the conversation didn't make sense, or they didn't fully grasp what was happening, and that discourages people from coming back again," he said. "So, what we want to do is open it up a little bit more."

So, Siemens and other city officials will make themselves available on the first Tuesday of every month for people to swing by City Hall from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. for a casual coffee and conversation.

"Ask us anything," encouraged the Mayor. "We may not have the answer on the spot, but we're certainly prepared to talk."

No appointment is necessary in order to get a moment of Siemens' time. 

"We look forward to having people come down and share their concerns, their thoughts. Just to be able to that in a way that isn't as intimidating as maybe an open council meeting would be."

With files from Pam Fedack.