BERRIEN COUNTY COMMISSION SCHEDULED TO GO BACK TO IN PERSON MEETINGS JULY 1

By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent

Zooming into meetings and watching governmental proceedings could soon be a thing of the past. Berrien County Commissioners voted last week to not renew the county’s current state of emergency when it expires June 30 and to go back to holding in-person meetings.

Virtual meetings became the norm last spring at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. While some boards and councils have never gone virtual, many have in an effort to keep in line with state gathering and social distancing requirements. Even after starting to meet again in person, some boards have continued to offer the remote option to the public.

Executive orders and then state legislation allowed local governments and school boards to hold meetings remotely during the pandemic and still be in compliance with the Open Meetings Act through the end of March of this year.

When legislators failed to act to extend authority to hold remote virtual meetings in March, the county board took matters into their own hands and declared a state of emergency in the county so that local boards could still meet remotely. At the time, indoor gatherings could only have 25 percent capacity and had to still maintain social distancing.

County Administrator Brian Dissette said in March that the board took the action not only to help their own situation but also to help local boards around the county. He noted that county and local boards faced the dilemma of either violating the Open Meetings Act or state pandemic orders without the state of emergency being in place.

With state pandemic restrictions lifting and most if not all set to be lifted by July 1, county commissioners have been debating what to do about virtual meetings over the last few weeks. While all have wanted to return to in person meetings, some have said they still want to offer the virtual option to the public.

Commissioners also noted that they did not want to go back to in person meetings until after the expiration of the county state of emergency to avoid potential questions about gathering sizes, mask wearing and vaccination questions.

The resolution approved by the commission last week stated that in person meetings will start July 1 at which time mask wearing and social distancing requirements will be terminated. In addition, the county’s COVID-19 Preparedness and Plan will be suspended at that time although it will be amended regularly to meet state and federal requirements.

Commissioners did reiterate that they will continue to stream county board meetings on the county’s YouTube channel, although committee meetings will no longer be broadcast on that channel.

County board meetings will be held at the Berrien County Administration Center, 701 Main St., St. Joseph, Michigan. The standard meeting schedule is on Thursdays with the Committee of the Whole meeting at 8:35 a.m., the committee (Administration, Finance, and Personnel / Human Services) meetings at 9:15 a.m., and the Board of Commissioners’ meeting at 10:30 a.m. each week.

This schedule is subject to change as needed, with the most current information available on the Berrien County website (www.berriencounty.org). Commissioners have talked about holding night meetings at locations around the county this summer as they’ve done most years, but haven’t set dates yet.

Dissette said last week that he will continue to bring up the end of the state of emergency every week until July 1 to prepare local boards for the change so they won’t be caught unaware.

“Every local body has been able to take advantage of Zoom to comply with the Open Meetings Act,” he said. “My advice is that every week we need to be discussing this and reminding them that the state of emergency will end June 30.”

In southern Berrien County, a number of municipalities including the village of Three Oaks and the cities of Niles and Buchanan have held most of their meetings remotely.

Three Oaks Village Manager Dan Faulkner said council members there liked the remote meetings and actually found more residents participating. He said the council and other boards will now transition to meeting in person, starting with this week’s meeting which was set to be held at a local restaurant.

Buchanan City Manager Heather Grace said city commissioners planned to discuss the issue this week. She said public participation has stayed steady and even grown during the months of meeting via Zoom. She expects some accommodations to be made to allow those who wish to continue to listen in remotely.

The Michigan Press Association was instrumental in getting the temporary Open Meetings Act amendment put in place at the start of the pandemic so that governments could operate and people could participate in meetings.

Public Affairs Manager Lisa McGraw said last week that while virtual meetings have worked well for the most part, the ongoing concern had been whether the public has been able to fully participate in meetings. With the return to normal in person meetings, that concern should be resolved.

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