Local entities take different approaches

COVID-19 has forced local leaders and elected officials to get creative.

To abide by social distancing measures, town and county meetings that haven’t already been canceled will go on via various platforms.

Jay County Commissioner Chuck Huffman said future commissioner meetings will be similar to its last meeting and executive session. Meetings will be in the Jay County Courthouse’s auditorium and limited to the maximum recommended amount to gather in a room — 10.

County leaders had already decided to cancel a solid waste management district meeting in March, and there likely won’t be an April meeting unless there is essential business that needs to be taken care of, Huffman said.

Commissioners will only be voting on essential matters and members could attend over phone, similar to how two members attended the emergency session last week.

Jay County Council president Jeanne Houchins said the council will also meet in the courthouse auditorium for its Wednesday meeting.

Other county groups outside of commissioners will only meet if it has essential business to vote on, Huffman said.

Portland Aviation Board and Portland Park Board meetings for this month have already been canceled in addition to last week’s Board of Works meeting being canceled because of the lack of an agenda.

Future Portland City Council and Portland Board of Works meetings will be conducted via Zoom, a video chat application, Mayor John Boggs said. Zoom will be utilized for the first time at the council’s meeting at 5:30 p.m. Monday.

Portland Redevelopment Commission, which was originally supposed to meet Friday, will meet April 10 via Zoom.

Dunkirk Mayor Jack Robbins said all of the city meetings for April have been canceled, with claims being voted on by email. He said he is looking into Zoom as a possibility to conduct meetings.

An emergency situation is the only thing that will prompt a city meeting, Robbins said.

Tuesday’s Pennville Town Council will be conducted via a phone call, council president Alicia Corwin said. Corwin said the council is exploring ways to make future meetings open to the public.

“Nobody here is tech savvy,” said Corwin, who added that one council member doesn’t have an email account.

Fort Recovery’s Village Council meeting scheduled for Monday has been canceled, village administrator Randy Diller said. Various options for how to conduct the council meeting scheduled for April 20 are being explored, he said.

Fort Recovery School Board is planning for its next meeting, April 20, to be on an online application or in a room large enough for attendees to stay at least 6 feet away from each other.

Jay Schools superintendent Jeremy Gulley said future school board meetings are likely to take place online in some capacity.

Redkey Town Council has not yet made a decision about the status of its April 16 meeting.