ESCANABA — Residents who don’t want to brave the cold to attend Delta County Board of Commissioners meetings will soon have another option to have their voice heard — remote public comment.

“We’re all challenged with attending meetings when we’re the general public. We have children, we have jobs, we have limitations in our ability to drive, we have winter restrictions, we have nighttime — I mean there’s a whole host of reasons why people attend these meetings remotely,” said Commissioner Christine Williams.

During the height of the pandemic, all county board meetings were held via Zoom, which allowed members of the public to log in and make public comment without ever leaving their homes. By early 2023, those Zoom meetings were also being broadcast on YouTube.

The system was widely-popular but far from perfect. Residents whose microphone were not muted would occasionally have their faces flash across the screen when Zoom believed they were active participants in the discussion; variations in connection speeds would make audio lag and made it difficult for the board chair to reel in residents who violated the board’s decorum standards; someone from the county had to constantly monitor the virtual waiting room to let in would-be attendees; and residents watching from YouTube had to join by Zoom to make public comments.

At the April 4, 2023 board meeting, the commissioners voted to eliminate Zoom in a 3-2 split vote. Half-a-dozen residents took to the podium following the decision to speak in support of Zoom, and requests to reinstate the practice of virtual meetings became a common theme at future meetings.

According to data compiled by the county’s IT department, on average, about 250 people are currently viewing each of the Delta County Board of Commissioners meetings on YouTube. About 50 of those people viewing watch the meeting live, as it is happening.

“We have more people participating live than we have sitting in the room with us which just shows that our public, our constituents want to participate, and I think one of the key parts of participation in your local government is being able to address your local government,” said Williams.

To return public comment to those attending remotely, the county’s IT committee decided to make two phone numbers available. One number would be for residents wishing to participate in the board’s first public comment period — which is limited to comments on items appearing on the agenda — and the other would be for general public comment, held near the end of the meeting.

Both numbers would connect the caller to an automated system. A prompt would direct the caller to leave their name and which agenda item they are speaking on if participating in the first public comment period. Then the caller would be able to leave a voice message containing their comment. That message would then be played back for the public in attendance and online at the proper time of the meeting.

According to Williams the cost of each phone line is about $10.

Commissioner Kelli van Ginhoven thanked Williams for her work to bring back virtual public comment, noting that it was a major focus of Commissioner Steven Viau, who failed to be reelected to the board last November.

“Maybe he’ll be our first public comment,” said Williams.