Newberry Holds First Virtual Commission Meeting

NEWBERRY – The Newberry City Commission held its first ever virtual City Commission meeting on Monday, March 23. Although the City has streamed their meetings via YouTube and earlier showed their meetings via Cox Channel 12, this was a different experience.

Mayor Jordan Marlowe was seated in the City Commission Chambers, while all five Commissioners, City staff members, presenters and citizens were all participating remotely from the comfort of their homes or offices. Staff quickly set up the meeting using Zoom, a program that allows various parties to participate in the meeting from a variety of different locations in real time.

The meeting was also streamed on YouTube, a platform that has sometimes been problematic for the City with occasional lapses in sound or video quality.

This progressive step was taken to help limit contact between people in an effort to stem the spread of Covid-19. In addition to the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC’s) guidelines to limit contact with others, wash hands constantly throughout the day and limit visitors, Alachua County issued a County-wide Emergency Stay at Home Order earlier in the same day.

Luckily, the City had already planned to take actions to lessen the spread of the disease in whatever way possible.

“Newberry’s office staff members are working from home,” said City Manager Mike New. “The Newberry Fire Station is closed to walk-in traffic and senior staff members are meeting electronically every day to address whatever concerns and problems may arise.”

Currently, City parks are still open, but restrooms have been closed due to limited cleaning supplies. New is referring people to the City’s Facebook page for updates.

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