City of Americus Called Meeting available via teleconference
Published 9:00 am Thursday, March 26, 2020
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City of Americus – Mayor and Council
Called Meeting
Monday, March 30, 2020
5:30 PM
The called meeting of the City of Americus Mayor and Council will be held via teleconference in accordance with the Georgia Open Meetings Act which requires meetings of the city and agencies of the city to be open to the public. O.C.G.A. §50-14-1(g), however, very specifically allows cities to conduct a meeting via teleconference, without a requirement of having a quorum present in person, when “necessitated by emergency conditions,” so long as notice is provided and simultaneous access is afforded to the public to the teleconference meeting.
The basis for the determination that the above procedures are “necessitated by emergency conditions” is as follows: (i) on March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 Coronavirus (now designated “COVID-19” or “virus”) as a pandemic and encouraged all countries to take urgent and aggressive action to reduce or stop the rapid spread of such virus; (ii) on March 13, 2020, the President of the United States of America declared a National Health Emergency regarding COVID-19; (iii) on March 14, 2020, Governor Brian Kemp of the State of Georgia declared a Public Health State of Emergency regarding COVID-19; (iv) on March 21, 2020, the Sumter County Board of Commissioners and the Sumter County Emergency Management Director adopted a resolution for the provision of emergency responses to the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic; (v) on March 22, 2020, the City adopted a Resolution within the incorporated area of the City of Americus for the provision of emergency responses to the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic; (vi) all such declarations of emergency either require or strongly urge all citizens to avoid person-to-person contact because the COVID-19 virus is both extremely dangerous and deadly; (vii) both resolutions adopted by the City of Americus and Sumter County prohibit gatherings of more than ten (10) persons together in any one location within the City and the County; (vii) and the failure of the City to impose the restrictions to the subject meeting referenced above would result in a violation of both the City’s Emergency Resolution and the County’s Resolution to the detriment of the citizens of the City and the County.
The meeting will be held via teleconference on Monday, March 30, 2020 at 5:30 PM and may be accessed by dialing the following:
Dial-in number (US): (978) 990-5000
Access code: 425018#
The final agenda will be published and accessible on the City’s website at www.americusga.gov.
For any questions, please contact the City Clerk at 229-924-4411 ext, 244 or at pmartin@americusga.gov.