City council discusses larger venues for public meetings

If the city wants to reopen its council chambers for public meetings — rather than broadcasting them via Zoom or through other online means — the mayor wants to make sure the safety of both citizens and staff are ensured.

That may require meetings to be held somewhere else besides city hall.

Ever since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, city staff have primarily held online meetings. If citizens want to participate in the discussion, they must call in. At the July 6 city council meeting, Newton Fire Chief Jarrod Wellik told elected officials he and his task force have been monitoring the pandemic.

In addition to Jasper County, Wellik and his team have looked at nine surrounding counties and “used those as kind of a benchmark,” paying close attention to trend lines of positive cases. Initially, projections pointed to a possible zero average by mid-July. This is no longer the case, Wellik noted.

“Now, the projection would show it going clear out into late August or into September before we see those numbers drop,” he said. “We’re still seeing those numbers drop some, but they’re being skewed upward by an upward trend in cases in the area.”

The task force has since opened the lobbies and entrances of city offices. Most areas are only allowing visitors into these particular common office spaces. Guests to the city offices also are asked to wear masks. Wellik said these measures need to be continued to keep the public safe.

Newton Mayor Mike Hansen thought there might be occasions during the city’s transition back to regular use of the council chambers where an agenda item will generate large public feedback. In which case, Hansen proposed the council could use the DMACC Newton Campus’ auditorium instead.

“We can continue to hold them live, if you will, but yet have a big enough area where we could entertain the citizens that want to attend and do so in a safe way (with) respective social distancing,” Hansen said. “I wanted to throw that out for you to know.”

Other areas in town could work, too. Councilman Mark Hallam said he asked the owners of Baqara Coliseum if that venue would ever be large enough for the city council to utilize safely. The owners, he added, “were very interested in the idea” and suggested “a very nominal fee” to meet at Baqara.

“I like the idea because it would enable us to get back to meeting in person while avoiding the close confines of the council chambers itself,” Hallam said.

Councilman Craig Trotter said it would be nice to get back to “somewhat of a normal way of doing business for the city.” Even though the Zoom meetings still allow the council to conduct its business publicly, Trotter would like to see everybody’s faces in person again.

It is important for citizens to feel like they have a voice again, too, councilman Randy Ervin said. Although the city and its elected officials are doing the best they can with the Zoom meetings, Ervin said he would like for any facility the council goes forward with to have some way to allow public comment.

“I do think it’s important that we get back to more of an open meeting where people can express their opinion either for or against something we’re dealing with,” Ervin told the mayor. “I do think that’s a part of our city that is in need of getting their voices heard. I would ask you take that into consideration, as well.”

Councilwoman Evelyn George agreed, saying “the quality of the communication and interaction is far better in person.” George also said the council should have the option to call in if they are uncomfortable attending an in-person meeting.

Wellik’s task force will provide council with suggestions at a later date. Hansen said another discussion about this topic will take place at the July 20 meeting.

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com