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Grand Junction staff review how residents can participate in council meetings online and in person
Summary
At a council workshop staff walked through the city’s agenda and video tools, virtual meeting access, closed-captioning, ADA listening devices and the public comment sign-up process, and said communications will produce how‑to materials for residents.
City staff demonstrated how Grand Junction residents can find agendas, watch meetings and submit public comment, saying the city’s agenda portal and GoToWebinar provide multiple participation options.
The demonstration, given during a council workshop, outlined four ways to comment — in person, virtually via GoToWebinar, by voicemail and via an online form — and described how the city posts meeting materials, videos and closed captions for later review.
Staff said the city website is gjp.org and walked council through the agenda/minutes page, showing how to use filters, download PDFs and open individual agenda items. “Our website is gjp.org,” the staff presenter told the council, and she showed that each agenda item has staff reports and attachments that can be opened separately so participants can follow updates as staff uploads changes.
The staff presenter said people can submit written comments through an online form; those submissions become PDFs that staffer Belinda distributes to council. The presenter told the council the usual cutoff for emailed or web-submitted materials is noon the day of the meeting so staff can package and distribute submissions in time for the meeting.
Staff explained two different live viewing options: GoToWebinar and the city’s livestream. They said GoToWebinar, used since the COVID period, offers three permission levels — attendee (public view-only), panelist (council members and presenters, who can unmute and enable video) and co-organizer (city staff such as Crystal in the city clerk’s office, who can moderate and remove participants). The presenter said GoToWebinar prevents attendees from unmuting or sharing screens and described it as more secure than generic meeting platforms.
The presentation also reviewed video features for past meetings. Staff pointed to time-stamped “bookmarks” that jump to items in recorded meetings and said the city orders closed captions on the back end so captions are available on posted videos; live captions during the meeting are available through GoToWebinar’s attendee interface. “We do order the closed captioning on the back end,” the presenter said, “so if you watch a meeting after it’s been posted, closed captions are there.”
Staff described ADA and accessibility supports available at City Hall, including two types of listening devices (amplified headphones and t-coil neck loops), and said hearing‑impaired and vision-impaired visitors from the Crossability Roundtable test‑checked equipment and site navigation with staff. Staff also said the auditorium has a reserved area that accommodates wheelchairs and noted that some workshop settings are kept outside council chambers so the room feels less formal and better suited to discussion.
Communications staff will prepare how‑to materials, including short videos and social posts, to explain the tools and options for participating virtually and in person. Staff said they will also research browser compatibility and provide guidance for residents who report problems playing archived video.
The presentation prompted questions from council about download reliability, whether packet updates appear after a member downloads a PDF, and how to make meeting materials easy to find on phones and tablets. Staff said agenda updates are normally posted at least 24 hours before a meeting and that clicking items on the meeting overview pulls the latest version.
Staff noted planned improvements to public information and outreach and asked council for feedback on virtual-participation procedures, including whether a council member who is online should be required to be formally recognized before speaking or be allowed to unmute themselves when their hand-raise is acknowledged.
For residents: staff recommended registering early for GoToWebinar to receive the panelist link if council wishes to participate virtually, and reminded attendees that the city provides listening devices on request and will help users connect accessibility apps when possible.
Staff said they will follow up with communications to make the city’s participation options clearer and produce short instructional materials showing how to find agendas, join meetings and use closed captions.
