BRANCH COUNTY, MI. – (WTVB) – Government still has to operate during these difficult times and that includes board meetings.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed an Executive Order last week which makes a temporarily change to the Open Meetings Act. Executive Order 2020-15 allows public bodies to conduct their meetings electronically, while also facilitating public participation until April 15th.
Under the Executive Order, public bodies that are subject to the Open Meetings Act, including boards, commissions, committees, subcommittees, authorities, councils, and nonprofit boards, can use telephone- or video- conferencing methods to continue meeting and conducting business during the coronavirus (COVID-19) public health crisis, so long as they follow certain procedures to ensure meaningful access and participation by members of the public body and the general public.
The Branch County Board of Commissioners are scheduled to hold a work session electronically at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon. The work session was originally scheduled for last Thursday. Their regular meeting that was originally scheduled for Tuesday has been rescheduled for 1:00 p.m. on Friday.
Other electronically conducted meetings around Branch County will be for the Quincy Village Council at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday evening, the Branch I.S.D. Board of Directors at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon and the Community Health Agency Board of Health at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday morning.
