Board to meet in person today
First face-to-face meeting in over a year
The Macomb County Board of Commissioners may conduct its first in-person meeting in over a year Thursday due to the expiration of an exception that allowed remote gatherings under the state Open Meetings Act.
The board could conduct its Health and Human Services Committee meeting in person at the County Administration Building in Mount Clemens because the county is not under a COVID-19 pandemic emergency declaration, which under state law would allow a remote meeting, according to county spokeswoman Courtney Flynn.
“For units of government that have not declared a disaster or state of emergency, meeting in-person now may be the only lawful option to conduct the public’s business in accordance with the Open Meetings Act,” Elizabeth Hertel, director of the state Department of Health and Human Services, wrote in an order Wednesday.
However, it’s possible that Mount Clemens Mayor Laura Kropp will declare an emergency in the city Thursday morning, so the board possibly could still meet remotely as it has for slightly over a year. The meeting is scheduled for 3 p.m.
Flynn said even if Thursday’s committee meeting is held in person, it will be shown over google.meet.com and include potential public participation.
In a unique twist, the two Warren county commissioners, Mai Xiong and Michelle Nard, could attend a remote meeting because the
emergency declaration is in effect in Warren, Flynn said.
In Mount Clemens, the City Commission is expected to meet remotely Monday and approve Kropp’s declaration so the commission can continue meeting remotely.
The Clinton Township Board of Trustee also is expected to approve an emergency declaration at its meeting Monday.
In Eastpointe, the City Council on Wednesday evening passed an emergency declaration through the end of this year, which is the maximum allowed by an amendment to the Open Meetings Act. Council members said they could end the declaration earlier if necessary.
Attorney Robert Mann, who practices in municipal law for Miller Canfield, said the public bodies can approve a declaration at a remote meeting.
County board committee meetings include all 13 board members.
The county’s last declaration expired last June.
If the county committee meeting is held in-person and attended by the public, it will be allowed due to an amendment Wednesday of a March 19 order by Hertel that limits the size of public gatherings.
The OMA was amended last year to allow remote meetings through March 30, and after that through the end of the year only if the community is in a state of emergency or disaster.
The new wrinkles also allow a member of a public body who is in the military and stationed remotely or who has a medical condition preventing his or her appearance to attend remotely.
Mann said there is a state Senate bill to extend the ability to conduct all public meetings remotely to June 30 and a state House bill to extend it “in perpetuity.” Mann said he believes the Senate bill would be the one to most likely pass.
Another House bill allows “members of an unelected, uncompensated” body, such as an appointed commission, to meet remotely in perpetuity, Mann said.