During these uncertain times, one of our greatest challenges is to find a balance between keeping everyone healthy while also continuing to keep your Town open and fully operational. In our endeavors to do so, we are needing to have our regular Town Council Meeting next week for several reasons. The Council will must meet “in person” for this meeting due to the nature of what is needing to be discussed. One member of Council is allowed to participate remotely, and due to specific health concerns, that position is being set aside for Councilman Hamilton, if he so chooses.
While our last Council Meeting was a somewhat successful test of the system, it was lacking in its ability for potential public participation. Although we saw a record number of people watching the meeting (84 people watched the LiveStream while 60 more have replayed the meeting in the days after), we desperately needed to find a healthy, secure, and acceptable way to make your Council more accessible during these meetings. In that light, we are glad to announce that three different platforms have been put in place that will be available for those wishing to be involved in the process. (The links and instructions will be included below.)
First, due to social distancing requirements, there will be extremely limited access to directly address the Council in person. So, there will be a camera in the meeting that will be streaming the content on two different platforms. One will be the same YouTube Livestream we used last time, and the other will be on the Webex Meetings app. After much research, the Webex platform by Cisco proved to be the most secure platform and least likely to collect or leak personal data of those wishing to participate. While the YouTube stream gives us unlimited viewership potential, it will be the least interactive. In comparison, the Webex app will be somewhat limited in slots available for full participation but will nonetheless afford participants live access to the Council without much encoding delays. Unfortunately, there are only 100 total slots available, and if we get that level of participation, then Webex will have to be available on a first come basis for now. If we reach capacity on Webex, we would ask that if you feel you have no more to contribute, that you please switch over to the YouTube stream and let someone else have a turn on the Webex platform. We are trying to up the available slots, and hopefully we will eventually be able to accommodate everyone wanting to participate on that platform. So, for now, if you think that your only involvement with the meeting is to observe, then we would ask that you relegate your participation to the YouTube channel.
As for the “In Person” meeting, we will pull the trucks out of the engine bay and those wanting to look the Council in the eye can stage in there and will be allowed to step into the Community Room, one at a time, to have your say. We will place one of the sound system speakers in the engine bay so that what is being said by the Council may be heard in there as well. If the weather is nice, we can also leave the overhead door open for fresh air and more space for participants to spread out.
We did attempt to find a larger venue to hold the meetings in hopes of not needing to rely so heavily on the teleconference platforms, but the Terrora Building’s restrooms may not be up to spec and there is currently no internet at that location. Tallulah Falls School was contacted, but they were unable to accommodate us since the campus is currently closed to the public for health concerns. We thought of using the Bluegrass stage if the weather allowed, but this would make it difficult for Councilman Hamilton to remote in since there is no internet available at that location, not to mention that the weather may not cooperate. So, it was decided that holding the meeting in the Community Room with limited access was a far cry better than a meeting with absolutely no access.
By taking these steps, I am hoping that the Council can lay the groundwork for our other boards and committees to have a way to meet and take care of the business with which they are charged. One example is that we will need to place an additional moratorium on STVRs so that Planning and Zoning will have more time to complete their hearings on a proposed ordinance to help address this issue. We really need for them to be able to meet safely and openly in a way that the public can weigh in on because it is such an important item. Continuing to place moratoria on one specific group of property owners may put the Town at risk of litigation if we do not continue to make progress. We also must pass our budget by the end of July, and our budget requires us to have a hearing for public review prior to its being adopted. Taking this step helps us know that we have a mechanism in place and ready for that hearing should we still need to observe social distancing practices at that time. My ultimate hope is, rather than looking at this as being a temporary solution, that we may take this as an impetuous to launch a permanent way to increase public involvement in our Council meetings and have even more of our residents and property owners more involved in how our Town is shaped for the future.
On that note, to help you all get a feel for how this will work, and to help work out any bugs ahead of time, I am looking for as many volunteers as I can get to help me put on a mock council meeting in the next few days. I will set up in the Community Room so we can see how the video feed looks, and as many as would like to can sign into the meeting or watch the YouTube stream. We had an issue last time where my microphone wasn’t being caught by the YouTube stream and then when it was it created an echo. I believe I have that fixed but would like to have some one else to verify it. If you have never participated in a live webinar, here is your chance to get your feet wet and make sure your equipment is ready for the meeting as well. If you are interested in helping out, please contact me via email or call me and we’ll pick a time and day to give it a go. My email is mike@tallulahfallsga.gov and my phone number is (706) 963-0583. If you call, leave a message and I will get back to you as soon as I can, or you can text me.
Humbly yours,
Mike E.