City needs upgrade to obey open meetings law
By Terry Murry on Thursday, March 31st, 2022 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
COLLEGE PLACE – The College Place City Council continues to hold workshops and regular meetings virtually. Currently, council chambers lack the technology necessary to allow the council or committee members to participate in real time as required by the state’s new open public meetings act.
“The regulation is that panel members must be able to participate in real time by a minimum of telephone,” Mayor Norma Hernandez said. “However, if you take that too literally, the meeting would be impossible to manage. For example, if there are multiple people participating in real time by phone, we would not be able to tell who is speaking or have any ability to limit a non-panelist to speak only during the public comment period.
Hernandez said to meet the requirements the city must install a new audio-visual system in council chambers. Until such equipment is purchased and installed, the city utilizes Zoom, which allows the ability to differentiate between panel members and audience participants, plus control who can participate in the decision making as opposed to the comment or deliberation portion.
“The estimate for the new technology and council chamber’s remodel is $411,000, per an estimate by Meier Architects,” she said. “We have the contract out for bid now. This will be paid for through the federal American Rescue Plan Act grant funds the city received.”
Hernandez said the city is trying to have an interim fix in place by May, however the permanent upgrades won’t likely be completed until fall, depending on the supply chain.
