City addresses meeting connectivity issues

Published 12:10 pm Wednesday, May 13, 2020

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NILES — The city of Niles is working to address connectivity issues, following issues reported during Monday’s city council meeting.

Community members reported technical difficulties and difficulty accessing Monday’s Niles City Council meeting via Zoom, including one city council member William Weimer, of the city’s third ward.

As meetings have moved to remote, online platforms to comply with COVID-19 mandates, local governments have had to adapt to public meetings. The Niles City council has been using Zoom software and phone-in meetings so that those without computer and internet access may still attend. The options both give access to participate in public comment.

Despite the challenges that come with the change, City Administrator Ric Huff said Monday’s meeting had the city’s largest virtual audience to date.

“We are sorry for any issues people experienced,” Huff said. “We are still new at hosting virtual meetings, and there can always be technical difficulties.”

The next city council meeting was rescheduled to 6 p.m. on May 18, so as not to meet on May 25, Memorial Day.

Huff said that the city has made a few changes for the next meeting.

“[We] hope everyone that wants to attend, can attend,” Huff said.