COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – For the second straight year, the Branch County Board of Commissioners made some tweaks to Board Rules during their organizational session on Thursday concerning meeting behavior.
Administrator Bud Norman said at the suggestion of their legal counsel, the regular meetings and work sessions are to be conducted in a business-like manner. Disruptive audience members will be notified of their conduct. If the disruption continues, they will be told to leave.
Norman went on to say in order to comply with the Open Meetings act of 1976, an absent Commissioner must be given the opportunity to take part through remote capabilities as long as there was a physical quorum. This would cover a Commissioner who is in the military service or who is sick or injured for an extended amount of time.
The dates for work sessions and regular meetings will stay the same but Norman said the time for a work session would be affected if there was a Community Health Agency Board of Health meeting that same morning.
The work session would start at 11:00 a.m. if the Board of Health meeting was in Coldwater. There would be a 1:00 p.m. for the work session if the Board of Health meets in Hillsdale or St. Joseph County.
Ted Gordon was once again chosen as the Board Chair while Terri Norris will remain as the Vice Chair.
