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White Lake recreation board approves bylaw change to allow Zoom participants to count toward quorum
Summary
The White Lake Recreation Advisory Board voted to retract its prior bylaws approval and adopt revised language stating members should make every effort to attend in person but may attend via Zoom when unable to; virtual attendees were approved to count toward quorum and have voting rights, subject to final action by the town commissioners.
The White Lake Recreation Advisory Board on a voice vote retracted its prior approval of the bylaws and adopted revised language to allow remote participation by Zoom to count toward quorum and include voting rights when members cannot attend in person.
The Chair opened discussion on proposed bylaws changes after a staff legal overview. Sean, town representative, told the board that state electronic-meeting guidance allows advisory boards some flexibility and recommended the board draft language for the commissioners to consider. He said the statute referenced electronic access requirements and recommended providing a public link and a physical location as a safe-harbor when meetings are remote.
Carrie, a committee member, proposed recommended wording and moved to "encourage participation into the face to face meeting option, which gives you voting rights on an issue. And in circumstances where someone simply cannot be here, that they can opt for a Zoom presence... without voting rights, unless specifically allowed by the commissioners for a unique item." Sandy (committee member) offered a motion that the board "revise section 2 of article 3 to request that members make every effort to attend meetings in person. But when unable to, they may attend via Zoom and have voting rights and be counted towards the quorum." Sandy seconded and the motion passed by voice vote.
The Chair said staff will forward the board's recommended bylaw language to the board of commissioners for consideration and final action; Sean reiterated that commissioners have the authority to adopt or modify the recommendation.
The board's vote rescinded the earlier approval of the bylaws and adopted the revised Article 3 language by voice vote. No roll-call vote or member-by-member tally was recorded in the meeting transcript.
