The East Ridge City Council will hold its last meeting of the month on Thursday, March 26 with “limited” public access due to coronavirus concerns, officials said Tuesday.

City Manager Chris Dorsey said the meeting will be attended by certain members of city staff, and some of the council may attend via electronic transmission. This unprecedented measure is consistent with Tennessee Governor Bill Lee’s executive order signed last week that allows remote attendance and voting by municipal or county officials doing public business.

“We are experimenting with this electronic meeting,” Dorsey said in a telephone interview Tuesday morning. “We don’t know which members will be there and who won’t.

“We are looking at the ‘Zoom’ platform to use. It’s like a webinar-type setting.”

Thursday’s meeting will be live-streamed via Facebook Live, a practice city officials have done consistently over the last year or so. The public will not be allowed inside the council chamber.

Dorsey said the mayor and council intend to go forward with the “citizens’ comments” portion of the meeting by inviting residents to email ([email protected]) their comments or questions to City Hall on Thursday between the hours of 12:30 and 1:30 p.m. Officials are requiring that the person put their name and address on the email.

It is the practice during conventional council meetings that a person provide their name and address when making comments or posing questions to the mayor and council.

The entire meeting will be available for viewing on the city’s Website on Friday, March 27 officials said.

The agenda for the meeting includes a resolution to return some city property at East Ridge High School to Hamilton County Schools to facilitate the construction of a field house at Raymond James Stadium. The council will also consider an agreement for concessions at Camp Jordan and locking in a date for Remote Area Medical (RAM) clinic for next year at the park. Mayor Brian Williams will also make an appointment to the city’s zoning appeals board.

City officials will reassess the situation regarding electronic transmission and remote voting next month.

Click on the link below for the public notice and the meeting’s full agenda: http://eastridgetn.gov/getattachment/Home/2020-03-23-Public-Notice-via-Electronic-Means.pdf.aspx