The East Lansing City Council discussed Tuesday the possibility of instituting a tailgate-style event, as well as improving communication with the public about the consequences of rioting, as part of a review of 29 recommendations made in response to the April 2-3 disturbances.

The recommendations about preventing, preparing and responding to future incidents were released in November by an independent review commission.

"(The council's) role is to provide the guidance on what needs to change, what needs to be added," Mayor Sam Singh said.

The council reviewed 18 of the recommendations at a Dec. 13 meeting and looked at the remainder Tuesday.

Much of the responsibility for turning the recommendations into reality lies with city staff — particularly City Manager Ted Staton and police Chief Tom Wibert.

At its Dec. 20 meeting, the council asked city staff members to report their progress by Feb.1.

"We need to accelerate the decision-making process," Councilmember Vic Loomis said. "When staff comes back with their recommendations we'll be able to get them in place very quickly."

Wibert said he has already begun discussions with MSU Police and Michigan State Police in preparation for this year's NCAA men's basketball tournament, which has been a catalyst for past riots in the city.

"For us, the buy-in is already there, and it's just a matter of the nuts and bolts of getting them implemented," Wibert said. "We're making pretty good progress on them."

Council members agreed with Wibert's assessment that crafting policies out of many of the recommendations should be a fairly straightforward process.

Independent review commission members Andrew Schepers, Derek Wallbank, Joe Tuchinsky and Nancy Schertzing attended Tuesday's meeting.