City restores in-person meetings open to public

Social distancing to be implemented

Simpsonville, S.C. — With social distancing protocols in place, Simpsonville City Council will again hold in-person meetings at City Hall that the public is allowed to attend.

City Council will hold its regularly scheduled business meeting on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in Council Chambers after conducting meetings electronically for nearly two months to help prevent the spread of the Novel Coronavirus Disease 2019.

Council members and staff will sit at least 6 feet apart, and seating in the Chambers will be arranged to ensure that members of the public properly social distance to continue curbing the spread of the virus. The City has decreased seating occupancy from 109 to 30 to promote social distancing.

Community relations specialist Justin Campbell said the decision to restore in-person Council meetings that are open to the public was based on guidelines by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention and the S.C. Department of Health & Environmental Control.

“Public health as well as public access to Council are top priorities for the City, and social distancing measures enable the City to uphold both,” Campbell said. “City Council is looking forward to good old-fashioned face-to-face interactions again—as long as 6 feet of distance is maintained, of course.”

Council held an emergency meeting in late March in which it adopted an ordinance in response to the current global pandemic. The ordinance authorized Council to hold meetings electronically and disallowed the public from attending meetings. The City live streamed the meeting via its newly created YouTube Channel.

Since the adoption of Emergency Ordinance No. E-2020-001 on March 25, Council has held six meetings electronically, all of which have been live streamed.

In addition to the live stream, the City invited the public to participate in the citizen comments portion of meetings by leaving voice messages on Mayor Paul Shewmaker’s office phone. The normal procedure of signing up by 6:20 p.m. before the meeting in Chambers to participate in public comment will be followed.

Citizens who speak must reside or own a business inside city limits, state their full name and address and speak for no longer than three minutes.

Resuming in-person public meetings comes on the heels of having reopened playgrounds, public restrooms, shelters and the Heritage Park Railway on Saturday, City Hall and other buildings in mid-May and all City parks in late April.

The phased-in approach to resuming normal government operations based on national and state guidelines for responding to the pandemic has responsibly balanced public health with access to City amenities.

Campbell said the strength, patience and resiliency of Simpsonville residents enables Council and administration to make the right decisions at the right times.

“Successfully navigating crises like a global pandemic is only possible when we all work together,” Campbell said. “The City of Simpsonville appreciates the sacrifices made by residents, business owners and essential workers to help prevent the spread of the virus. Those sacrifices and smart decision-making by City leadership laid the groundwork for an open City.”