Had something similar to this when i became president two years ago. even though it's hard at first, one of the best things I did was enforce some rules at meetings. This meant having an agenda and sticking to it and moving the meeting along when folks got way off topic. There were some difficult nights but most people agree that our meetings are better now and we get more done in less time. Difficult part is that i had to spend more time getting ready for meetings to make this work. Luckily my board supported me and helped.