Due to Governor Pritzker’s March 16, 2020 Executive Order related to the Open Meetings Act, the Champaign City Council Meeting scheduled for Tuesday, March 24, has been cancelled.
The Executive Order, intended to help slow the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak, suspends the physical presence requirements under the Open Meetings Act (OMA) and limits the size of all public gatherings in Illinois. The order also suspends the requirement to have a quorum physically present and allows for electronic participation.
The Executive Order does not suspend all parts of the Open Meetings Act, the City of Champaign is still required to and will comply with:
• timely post agendas for any meeting held under the OMA;
• include on the posted agenda the general subject matter of any final action to be taken;
• have a quorum present (in‐person or remote) in order to convene a meeting;
• record members present/absent and by what means they attended;
• allow an opportunity for public comment;
• keep, approve, maintain and post minutes; and
• comply with OMA requirements to convene in closed session.
To meet the Governor’s guidance to allow for “video, audio, and/or telephonic access to meetings,” the City of Champaign needs additional time to implement and test a virtual meeting system. Currently, the next regular meeting of the Champaign City Council is scheduled for Tuesday, April 7, 2020, pending a successful test of the system. City Council meetings are not scheduled for the “fifth Tuesday of the month,” therefore March 31 is not a scheduled meeting. If there is a change to this schedule, the City of Champaign will provide proper notice in advance to the public.