The new events will be held from 6pm on the first Monday of every second month, with the inaugural forum to be on September 2.

They will centre around key issues, with one to be part of draft budget consultation, allow residents to present matters of concern and ask questions of councillors.

The forum step is the brainchild of new council chief executive Mark Dixon and follows feedback about a lack of consultation in a recent Victoria-wide municipal satisfaction survey.

The city was down from 67 to 59 overall and fell from 58 to 53 on consultation in particular.

Acting mayor Kat Bennett acknowledged the drop at Monday night's council meeting, where a motion to introduce the forums was adopted.

"Every year we're part of the community satisfaction survey (and) we normally score quite highly above the state average, in the last one it took a bit of a hit in terms of consultation, so the CEO came up with this as a good idea," Cr Bennett said.

Councillor Ron Mildren also applauded Mr Dixon and expressed hope the move would aid openness.

"It introduces some opportunities for more genuine and open consultation," Cr Mildren said. "It doesn't guarantee that that is what will happen, but it gives opportunities for that to happen, it provides scope for the community to contribute.

"This is a step in the right direction to try and get some increased level of transparency and possibly an increased level of accountability for us as councillors."

Councillor Danny Lowe noted Wodonga Ratepayers' Association's struggles with numbers at meetings and suggested the forums would give that body the opportunity to be more involved with the council.

Monday night also saw the introduction of general business to the agenda which will let councillors offer tributes, notes of thanks or congratulations, recognition and advise of attending events.

The Murray Valley Centre's 60^th anniversary and RED Carpet youth awards were noted.