NORTHBOROUGH – Northborough boards and committees will soon have the technology available to hold hybrid meetings.
According to Northborough Cable Access Television (NCAT) Director Dana Volke, the Town Hall’s Conference Room B has been outfitted with technology capable of facilitating hybrid meetings. On March 4, Volke told the Community Advocate that the technology in the Select Board’s Meeting Room is currently being installed. Prior to holding any hybrid meetings, NCAT will work with the Town Hall’s IT Department to “go over security and best practices” and train them how to use the equipment.
The technology should be ready in two weeks, Volke said in a March 4 email.
Like many other towns, Northborough moved to virtual meetings due to COVID-19, but unlike other municipalities, it never fully moved back. While many of Northborough’s boards and committees hold in-person meetings – including the School Committee, Fire Station Building Committee, Appropriations Committee and Community Preservation Committee – some of the town’s elected groups, namely the Select Board and Planning Board, still meet almost exclusively online.
Currently, residents do not have the option to attend Select Board and Planning Board meetings in person, although they can still comment and participate by using the Zoom link, which is provided in the meeting agenda. The meetings are also live-streamed.
In the Community Advocate coverage region, Northborough has the only Select Board still consistently holding virtual meetings.
Northborough cites COVID-19 as the basis for virtual-only meetings. At the beginning of every meeting and at the top of every agenda, the town references Chapter 2 of the Acts of 2023, which extends certain COVID-19 measures into the future. The law, which Governor Maura Healey signed on March 29, 2023, allows public bodies to meet remotely. The law extends the provisions until March 31, 2025, but some believe the state will permanently allow virtual-only meetings.
The virtual-only meetings have become a hot topic in Northborough. While proponents point to the convenience of attending government meetings from home, critics say that online meetings sacrifice decorum and transparency. Some town residents have called the informality of Select Board meetings “unacceptable and unprofessional.”
“My feelings are you can only hide behind the computer screen for so long… Let your voice and everyone’s voice be heard in person and not through a computer. Our future and our children’s future shouldn’t be decided virtually,” Northborough resident David Cooley posted in the “All Things Northborough MA Facebook group” last March.
The move to hybrid meetings would aim to balance convenience and formality.
“Hybrid meetings will allow everyone to view and participate in the manner they prefer. For the public, viewing and participating in hybrid meetings will be no different than with remote meetings, unless they choose to come to the meeting in person,” Select Board Chair Mitch Cohen told the Community Advocate in an email statement.
The Select Board discussed moving away from virtual-only meetings during its Oct. 16 meeting. At the meeting, Volke asked for $33,865 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to set up infrastructure for the board to conduct hybrid meetings. According to the presentation, NCAT would install a TouchView Smartboard with an integrated camera, speakers, other cameras, monitors, and other equipment. The funds also included money for the Conference Room B improvements.
“With all the stuff, the audio, the video — everything is going to be very crisp, clean, professional. It’s going to be very, very nice,” Volke said at the meeting.
At the meeting, the Select Board members seemed enthusiastic, unanimously approving the funds.
“Everybody’s really excited to have the ability to do hybrid meetings,” said Select Board Member Laura Ziton. “That is awesome.”
When Ziton asked when the devices could be installed, Volke predicted three months, putting the expected installation date in mid-January. After delays pushed the project to March, the expectation is that the technology will be available soon.
The question of how often boards will use the new technology remains. With virtual-only meetings still permitted, and hybrid meetings still technically allowing elected representatives to participate virtually, the hybrid meetings could become de facto virtual-only meetings.
“I think it’s too early to forecast specifics for future meetings,” Cohen said in an email statement. “We have occasional meetings that are only Executive Session, where there’s no public attendance and we meet with the Town Counsel who might be some distance away. Or we might switch a regular hybrid meeting to fully remote during a snowstorm. We’ll know a lot more once we’ve had a few regular hybrid meetings.”
The Community Advocate reached out to Planning Board Chair Kerri Martinek as to whether the Planning Board would continue to meet virtually. She did not respond to several requests for comment.
