Remote Participation

For Public Officials of the Town of Lynnfield, MA

Adopted by the Lynnfield Board of Selectmen

November 3, 2014

All appointed and elected Boards, Committees and Commissions are authorized to conduct Remote Participation subject to the requirements of The Massachusetts Open Meeting Law, G.L. c30A, §20(d), 940 CMR 29.10, and the following approved guidelines.

Guidelines

Ø  Remote participation is limited to members of a public body and is not available to the general public.

Ø  A member of a public body requesting remote participation must notify the Chair or acting Chair in writing and in advance of the meeting, stating the reasons why.

Ø  The person chairing the meeting may permit remote participation if it has been determined that one or more of the following factors makes it unreasonably difficult for the member requesting remote participation to physically attend the meeting:

• Personal illness
• Personal disability
• Emergency
• Military service
• Geographic distance

Ø  Remote participation is allowed as audio only. The remote audio must be clearly heard in the public meeting space to all attendants.

Ø  The Chair or acting Chair shall announce the presence of any remote participants at the start of the meeting.

Ø  If technical difficulties arise and persist during a meeting, the remote participant will be declared to have left the meeting and the Chair of the public body may decide to continue with the agenda if there is a quorum still physically present.

Ø  A quorum of the body, including the Chair or, in the Chair’s absence, the Acting Chair, shall be physically present at the meeting location, as required by M.G.L. c. 30A, sec 20(d).

Ø  All votes must be by roll call if there is a remote participant.

Ø  All handouts or presentations must be made available to all remote participants in advance. If used during the meeting, such documents shall be part of the official record of the meeting, and shall be listed in the meeting minutes and retained in accordance with M.G.L. c. 30A, sec. 22.

Ø  A member participating remotely may participate in an executive session but shall state at the start of any such session that no other person is present and/or able to hear the discussion at the remote location, unless presence of that person is approved by a simple majority vote of the public body.

 Ø  Any costs associated with remote participation shall be the responsibility of the remote participant.