Jackson City Council holds virtual meeting

JACKSON, Tenn. — It’s an unusual sight in City Hall, a council meeting room with barely anyone there.

Due to the coronavirus and social distancing guidelines, this month’s city council meeting was held virtually, with members chiming in online. It won’t be the only change.

“We cancelled some committee meetings, and if we have to have meetings, they will all be virtual to make sure that we’re limiting that interaction,” Mayor Scott Conger said.

The meeting started a bit late since members of the mayor’s office and IT department needed time to set up the meeting and make sure everyone was ready to go.

Everything went smoothly once they got started.

“I was overall impressed by the way everyone was able to handle the technology and participate in the meeting,” Mayor Conger said.

Tuesday’s agenda broached the topic of the coronavirus and how it might impact the city’s budget plans and contracts.

“We’re relatively new into this process of being impacted by the virus, you know two or three weeks,” Mayor Conger said. “And so it’s really hard to project where we’ll end the fiscal year and our revenues for next fiscal year.”

Mayor Conger says they’re still waiting for some of those projections that take the coronavirus impact into account. He says that could change some of their outlook.

As for the discussed contracts, Mayor Conger says they won’t be forced to pay for some of them if certain departments do not open in time for the fiscal year.

“We don’t spend any money with them, and it won’t go into effect until the Sportsplex reopens. So if it doesn’t reopen for this fiscal year, then there will be no money spent for the contract,” he said.

Mayor Conger ended on an upbeat note by saying he hopes next week’s meeting can be in person at City Hall.

He admitted it was just a hope.

This is the first virtual meeting for the city council since the COVID-19 outbreak.