AVALON – At its Jan. 27 meeting, Avalon Borough Council, again, discussed remote video access to council meetings,a subject championed by several residents in the past but has met with opposition on the council.
Since the pandemic forced public meetings to go virtual and mandated remote access for the public, Avalonused a telephone conference call technology that allows public access to audio of the meeting.
There is no video access, meaning the public does not have real-time access to slides and presentation materials that may accompany council’s consideration of an issue. The technology can also leave some remote participants confused as to who is speaking.
Council President John McCorristin has been an advocate of remote video access to the meetings and, once again, brought the issue to council’s agenda by asking Business Administrator Scott Wahl to prepare a report on technology options.
Several towns in the county turned to remote access technology before the pandemic, citing the use of the technology to improve transparency in government. Such access can also be an important way for a growing number of second homeowners to stay engaged in local governance.
