By SARIT LASCHINSKY

Special to The Press

During the courtesy of the floor period at the June 2 in-person South Whitehall commissioners meeting, much of the discussion focused on continuing the virtual public participation option.

Resident David Burke asked about the status of an upcoming hearing on the Park View development scheduled for 6 p.m. June 28.

Burke said at the previous meeting he told the board he would get a preliminary estimate as to the possible number of attendees.

So far at least 50 people definitely will be attending, he said.

Burke, however, anticipates well over 100 participants, but several people had expressed discomfort and concerns about attending in person.

“My understanding is that we’re not able to have full participation remotely,” Burke said. “I think people got very used to the GoToMeeting format and being able to watch here as well as make comments live to the meeting environment,”

He asked why full virtual participation was not possible.

Township Manager Renee Bickel said the township was looking to host the meeting in a school auditorium to provide adequate social distance, with details still to be worked out, but she was unsure if the school’s equipment would adequately support a virtual meeting.

Burke also asked whether there were limitations to the equipment in the township’s newly-renovated meeting room which may prevent full participation.

Bickel responded the room was designed to facilitate livestreaming, but not active external participation.

Monica Hodges built off Burke’s comments about virtual meetings and public participation, and asked if the township could keep the current virtual meeting component as well as the in-person gathering.

“I feel like if you don’t have the ability for people at home to participate you’re excluding a good amount of citizens who maybe do want to participate and don’t have that opportunity,” Hodges said, making note of examples such as families with children, individuals with mobility issues or people working split shifts.

“How can we fix that? How can we be better? How can we be inclusive and not exclude those people who can’t be there?” she asked.

Commissioner Ben Long asked how people are being excluded in the current meeting process.

Hodges responded if an individual cannot participate virtually or make the in-person meeting, then they are thus excluded.

Board President Christina “Tori” Morgan said once Gov. Tom Wolf’s COVID-19 orders are fully lifted, people can go back to participating as they did before and noted for the time being, the township will continue holding hybrid meetings.

Commissioner Diane Kelly mentioned the livestreaming capability and pointed to the preCOVID system by which individuals could submit questions by email to the township which would then be read into the minutes, though she acknowledged this would not work for questions that come up mid-meeting.

Kelly also noted the governor’s orders run through the end of August.

“So we’ve got that much time to talk about this further,” Kelly said, adding the topic warranted further discussion as many more people have been able to participate in the meetings from home since the pandemic began.

Morgan said she wanted to see how the hybrid model works, especially with the additional time until the August expiration.

“I don’t think we’re going to be able to make that decision tonight,” Morgan said. “We have to think about what’s going to work in terms of dynamics or logistics, but it’s definitely something to think about.”

Commissioner Mike Wolk said he would like to see some more definitive action or direction from the board.

“Who has the responsibility to look at this, and when will some conclusion be reached and reported out to the board, and to the public?” he asked.

Morgan said this was the first occasion the board was meeting in the new meeting room, and the first time using the hybrid model.

“So, I don’t know if you can put a time on it, but certainly we would make a decision before the governor’s orders are lifted in August.” Morgan said.

Bickel said staff have been holding conversations with the township’s vendors about additional options or upgrades to the meeting room’s equipment but the board must make a decision about how to proceed with meetings, and that a hybrid interactive model may bring additional costs.

Long said he was not opposed to the idea but added, as COVID-19 winds down, he would like to see “how things kind of play out, before we make any sort of reactionary decision.”

“I think it would behoove us to see who is even interested,” Long said. “COVID isn’t going to rule our lives forever. So, I think as thing’s go back to normal, let’s see who’s even interested in taking advantage of something like this.”

Wolk responded by saying said Hodges’ and Burke’s comments had demonstrated a substantial number of residents were interested in participating virtually, and again called for a functional step for providing accessible meetings, interactivity and livestreaming.

Commissioner Joe Setton said the township was currently providing an interactive experience and added the answer to Wolk’s question would be a matter of cost, referring to Long’s comments about seeing how many residents would participate virtually.

“There is an issue, there is a cost, we need to study and find out before we make any decisions. So your questions today, to me, are impossible to answer,” Setton said.

Solicitor Joe Zator said this would be the board’s discretionary and fiscal decision “between now and the expiration of the governor’s order.”

Zator said statue has provided Wolf the authority to issue an order by which virtual meetings are a “temporary exemption” to the Sunshine Act, but added unanswered questions remain about whether virtual meetings will have a legal way to continue once the orders expire.

He said before COVID-19 all public meetings needed to be live, and that virtual participation was not allowed.

Zator further stated that several attendees had spoken about virtual participation’s benefits but noted the statutory framework under the Sunshine Act has not changed, and he would need to look further into the legal side of the issue.

“Essentially allowing public dialogue through a virtual platform is simply something the statute has been silent on,” he said.