Oro Valley returns to in-person public meetings
Published on September 01, 2021
ORO VALLEY, Ariz. (September 1, 2021) – On September 8, 2021, the Town of Oro Valley will discontinue Zoom meetings and return to in-person public meetings, to include Town Council and all boards and commissions. For the most part, these in-person meetings will operate and function as they did pre-COVID. Residents may either attend in person or they can view/listen to the meeting from home via livestream on the Town’s website. Recordings of those meetings will then be posted to the website for on-demand viewing. With the exception of Public Hearings, individuals who wish to publicly speak at a meeting must do so in-person by filling out a blue speaker card for a particular agenda item or for Call to the Audience.
NEW FEATURE
For agenda items listed as Public Hearings, there is now an option to speak publicly via Zoom if the speaker registers at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting by filling out a “virtual” speaker card. To learn more, click here. Once a speaker has registered online, they will be provided with additional instructions and a Zoom link on the day of the meeting. The new virtual option also applies to the Planning and Zoning Commission and the Board of Adjustment, as they are both held in Council Chambers and have Public Hearings.
Links to register for a virtual speaker card will be included in each meeting’s agenda, which is posted to the Town’s website one week in advance. To find the agenda, visit the Meetings and Agendas web page and scroll down to locate the meeting/date, then click on “Agenda.”
The agenda for the Sept. 8 Town Council Meeting includes a Public Hearing, so residents wishing to speak to Council on that item may now register for a virtual speaker card by clicking on the link in the agenda. Click here to view the Sept. 8 agenda.
Comments can also be sent via email to Town Clerk Michael Standish at mstandish@orovalleyaz.gov for distribution to the Town Council prior to the meeting.
HEALTH AND SAFETY PRECAUTIONS
In accordance with the Pima County Health Department’s most recent health advisory, the Town respectfully asks all in-person meeting attendees, regardless of vaccination status, to please wear a mask while indoors. COVID-19 remains a fluid situation, and the Town will adjust its safety guidelines in accordance with any future health advisories from the Health Department.
COUNCIL CHAMBERS RENOVATION
Meeting attendees will notice that the Oro Valley Council Chambers were recently renovated to improve the public meeting experience for all participants, whether in-person or via livestream. Renovations include:
- Improved safety features and full ADA compliance for the dais.
- Increased seating capacity to 190 (previously 104).
- Installation of two large audience monitors for better visibility of meeting presentations.
- Upgraded lighting system to improve visual quality of livestreaming and video-recorded meetings.
- New technology to improve broadcast quality for attendees with hearing aids.
- Improved sound system for better sound clarity, including speakers outside Council Chambers for broadcasting to overflow audiences and/or attendees standing in the courtyard area.
- New audio/visual system to enable the virtual speaker card feature for Public Hearings as well as virtual attendance for councilmembers, board and commission members, staff or official presenters who are out of town or otherwise unable to attend in person.