Franklin County Commissioners are trying to figure out how best to open their meetings to the public beginning in January.
The public has been kept out of meetings for most of this year because of the coronavirus, though the public has been allowed to take part in meetings virtually through ZOOM.
People who just want to watch the meeting have been able to do that in real-time through the Forgotten Coast TV facebook page.
There have been some glitches with the setup, but for the most part it has worked very well.
Many counties have already re-opened their meetings to the public, though many of the other counties have bigger meeting spaces than Franklin County and can more easily allow the public in while still socially distancing.
Franklin County is considering a mix of requiring temperature checks before entering the meeting room, requiring masks unless the person is speaking in front of a microphone and continuing the use of Zoom and Live-stream to allow as many people to attend the meetings without being there is person.
Once the public is invited back in, the county will likely continue to use the current allowed seating locations which were designated by the 2nd Circuit Court Trial Marshal – the benches in the commission meeting room have been marked to insure people are safely distanced.
The biggest concern is how the commission will handle larger crowds who may attend for public hearings, especially if it is on a controversial topic.
The board wants to make sure that both sides of an issue are fairly represented without increasing risks to attendees, county staff or the commission itself.
Currently the county attorney and the county coordinator are working on a re-opening plan that they will bring to the county commission at their first meeting in December in the hopes the plan can be implemented by the January 5th meeting.
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