Even though it has always been talked about, none of us probably thought we’d be in the middle of a serious pandemic, but we are. Please follow all the recommended protocols and stay and keep everyone safe. 

Despite the current situation, we are all finding ways to keep things going. The College Area Community Council and Planning Board is no exception. Although the April meeting was cancelled, we plan to keep things moving forward, remotely. Our plan is to hold meetings virtually. 

At our April meetings, we typically seat board members that have been either re-elected or newly-elected and elect new officers. This April, our plan was also to fill one seat, with a one-year term that remained empty by board election of a new member that has met all the criteria for board membership. Following the April meeting, the board meets at a special meeting/retreat to assign committee members, adopt a budget and set goals for the coming year. 

Because all of the aforementioned items are, technically, internal operating processes of the board, the planning department has agreed that all of them can be addressed at what has been our annual retreat. We are taking advantage of this to test what we hope will be a short-term meeting strategy of meeting virtually. 

The plan is to schedule meetings and notice them publicly, as mandated by law for both the board and committees. However, public access to the meeting, i.e. the meeting ID number and password (for Zoom), will be provided by requests made to [email protected] if any community member wishes to participate. Our hope is that this process will prevent the hacking and “bombing” of virtual meetings that other groups have experienced. 

The first test will be the community plan update committee meeting on April 22 and then the board retreat/special meeting sometime after that. As stated, our hope is that this will only be necessary for a short period of time. Please stay tuned for announcements regarding the meetings mentioned.

On another note, we have a vital community. Let’s keep it that way. Please support our local businesses! Consider ordering take-out or delivery from your favorite restaurants. If your other needs are typically met by a local business, find out if they’re open and patronize them, albeit, following safety protocols. They are vital members of our community and we are all in this, together. 

—Jose Reynoso is chair of the College Area Community Council and Planning Board.