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CB2 to run virtual committee meetings, publish redacted applications and accept public comments online
Summary
Community board staff will pilot virtual committee meetings, post redacted application materials on the board website and coordinate webinar hosting through the Borough President's Office; smaller committees will experiment with public participation in online hearings.
Manhattan Community Board 2 staff said they will begin piloting virtual committee meetings and post redacted application materials online to allow committee business to continue while in-person hearings are suspended.
"We—re gonna probably have some smaller committee meetings and experiments with how long it takes to have the public involved on a committee level," Bob (board staff) said, adding that applicants should submit materials in advance to streamline online hearings.
Board staff said they will work with the Manhattan Borough President—s Office to run meetings on that office's Zoom accounts, which include webinar functionality to allow public participation. "Ultimately, if we have a virtual meeting, we'll run it through the Manhattan Borough President's Office," Carter said. He said staff will also develop best-practice documentation for hosting and public inclusion.
The board discussed redacting and posting committee materials. "Josh already has a way that that's set up to do that. So all we need to do is redact the applications before we would put them on the website," Bob said. Community members asked that public copies be available before meetings so residents are not hearing new information for the first time.
Agencies' procedural changes were noted: the State Liquor Authority is accepting 30-day notices electronically and has suspended 500-foot hearings for the moment, Bob said; this affects timing for the SLA and committee scheduling. Members cautioned committees to plan carefully if a meeting could produce a resolution, as a full board meeting would be needed to ratify any position that goes beyond an existing stance.
No formal vote was recorded; staff will run tests and schedule small committee pilot meetings and outreach to applicants about materials submission and redaction.
