In response to the COVID-19 emergency, Wright City’s elected leaders are using video conferencing technology to make public meetings accessible from home. But they also set limits on when and how that ability can be used going forward.

The city’s board of aldermen for the first time used a video conferencing app to host two aldermen and members of the public remotely during the board’s March 26 meeting. Mayor Dan Rowden said the technology was set up to allow public transparency at the meetings while limiting the people present during the COVID-19 outbreak.

“I think it’s a good option for us. We certainly will make this available to anybody who wants access during our meetings,” Rowden commented.

Aldermen Kerry Lambright and Tom Dixon participated remotely in discussions with their fellow aldermen and Mayor Rowden at city hall, and were able to take official votes from their homes. Cameras and microphones captured everything at all three locations.

One of the first items of business was to prevent this new capability from being abused.

Rowden explained that once the current emergency ends, video conferencing will still be an option for aldermen who are prevented from attending in-person. Aldermen voted on a policy March 26 that will limit how many times an alderman can “video attend” each year.

After some discussion, aldermen voted 4-0 to limit video attendance to six meetings out of the 24 scheduled in a year.

City attorney Paul Rost clarified that the video attendance count won’t begin until the current public emergency ends.

“Once we start having this capability for an alderman to use the technology to video in, this is a (policy) to say we’d rather people actually show up at the meetings,” Rost explained. “So let’s limit how many times we say we need to video in... There needs to be some good reason to do it by video.”

The new policy directs that during normal times, all effort should be made to ensure that a quorum (three aldermen) are physically present at meetings. Also during normal times, members of the public would still have to show up in person to observe the meetings.

But in emergencies such as the current situation, the policy defines a broader use of video conferencing. The board could meet entirely by video, if deemed necessary.

When members of the public aren’t able to attend a physical meeting, as is currently the case, the city will provide a link on its website to observe the live video. About four people viewed the March 26 meeting remotely, City Administrator Jim Schuchmann said.