[2020 04 19] With the restrictions on meetings due to coronavirus, the NJ legislature passed and the governor signed a bill (A3850) authorizing local and other governmental groups to have remote meetings, i.e., meetings that would not be held in the usual location and with the public in attendance.
The NJDCA DLGS (NJ Dept. of Community Affairs, Div. of Local Government Services) provided municipalities with “Planning Board and Zoning Board of Adjustments Operational Guidance” on 2 April. Their recommendation on plans and applications is, “All plans and application materials must be on file with the Board Secretary for review by the public at least ten (10) days prior to the hearing. In the present circumstances, the local unit should consider receiving plans electronically, and posting them for public review on and through the municipal website,…” [emphasis added]
The following section provides an initial view of the two local groups, the Ramsey Board of Education and the Ramsey Borough.
1. Ramsey Board of Education (BoE)
The first remote BoE meeting was held on 24 March. The BoE members, superintendent and business administrator were at their homes, connected over the Internet. The public was able to view four (which varied, but included the speaker).
The streamed video was available (with other videos) on the RamseyNJSchools youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoYtzvgcjLUJCX_jp6AaNVg).
The remote meeting is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1B2_s5EApl8. Note that this first remote meeting audio starts after 9m 42s, when you watch on youtube. While the public watched it on-line; questions during public comment sessions were made via telephone.
The agenda and meeting details included:
- the agenda pdf has the full-text of all motions
- for this first remote meeting, the first motion amended the by-laws to permit remote meetings
- two public comment sessions, which is their standard
- how to call in
2. Ramsey Mayor and Council
The Mayor and Council’s first remote meeting was on 25 March, via telephone conference call. They would not provide any information beyond the phone number and conference number; we found out (at the meeting) that it used FreeConferenceCall.com. Other borough meetings are using this; some are using Zoom.
Note that only motion titles plus a few words are in the agenda. Months ago, the borough put a binder in the Council Chamber with correspondence and motions, that one could initially see ten minutes before the start of the meeting…but one had to be there. The council president (December 2018) refused to consider posting the information on Friday after the council received their packet.
One would conclude that there were no “dry runs” (using less than a quorum), which would have made a smoother, more professional conference.
Several residents mentioned that they tried to call in, but were unable to get through and be connected. Note that FreeConferenceCall has work-arounds for such problems (on their support page), but the borough did not provide the information. Here it is:
- My Dial-In is giving a busy signal. How do I join my meeting?
For US numbers If you’re having difficulty connecting to your meeting, you can send a text message to your conference Dial-In Number - Text “Help” to receive a text message with a temporary backup number. Tap the number in your text to dial it, or you can
- Text “Call Me” to receive a call that connects you with your Dial-In. Once connected, enter your Access Code as you normally would.
FreeConferenceCall has another feature:
One Number – $3.95 per month – Eliminates access codes + Brand free greeting + Text reminders when your first participant joins.