To: Honorable Mayor and Members of Town Council
From: David L. Corliss, Town Manager
Title
Resolution Adopting Board and Commission Electronic Participation, Connected, and Hybrid Meeting Policy
Body
________________________________________________________________________________
Executive Summary
Town Council in March put in place by resolution protocols for holding and attending Board and Commission meetings virtually. Council subsequently extended its authorization for remote meetings through June 30, 2021.
Council has adopted a resolution for permanent use of virtual and hybrid meetings for Town Council Meetings. Since the current virtual Board and Commission remote meeting policy is set to expire at the end of June, staff presents the attached resolution (Attachment A), which would enact an indefinite extension of Boards and Commission’s remote meeting protocols.
Notification and Outreach Efforts
A new approach at the time they were necessitated, Boards and Commissions have since 2020 successfully held fully virtual or hybrid virtual/in-person meetings. Seeing that success, Council may now wish to extend this practice indefinitely.
Allowing remote participation provides for greater flexibility for both Board and Commissions, applicants and members of the public. When work or other obligations prevent participants from being physically present in Council Chambers during a meeting, remote access allows the opportunity for community dialogue and Council action on important issues.
During previous Council discussions on the topic, some Councilmembers also cited drawbacks of allowing remote attendance, including that participants may not be as focused during discussions when participating remotely as they are in person. Whether to continue allowing remote meeting access when it’s not necessitated by a declared disaster is Council’s discretion.
The resolution presented herein would keep in effect the policy (Exhibit 1) developed earlier this year to provide for various forms of remote Board and Commission meeting access. The policy allows Board and Commission members to arrange for electronic participation in meetings up to 24 hours in advance. Participants attending a meeting electronically can participate in quasi-judicial hearings with the applicant’s consent, as well as in executive sessions, under the policy.
The policy also defines connected - fully virtual - and hybrid virtual/in-person meetings and sets out when both types of meetings generally are allowed. In short, the Town Manager has discretion on when holding these forms of meetings is appropriate.
If Council tonight opts to extend the possibility of remote Board and Commission meeting participation indefinitely, this action is reversible. Council at any point can adopt a resolution to rescind or change this policy.
Proposed Motion
“I move to approve the Resolution as introduced by title.”
Attachments
Attachment A: Resolution
Exhibit 1: Policy