By Morgan Pilz, Staff Writer

Improvements will be made as livestreaming continues

(April 23, 2020) Berlin Town Administrator Jeff Fleetwood is pleased with the results of the first virtual meeting of the mayor and Town Council on April 13, and hopes to make some minor changes before the next meeting on Monday, April 27.

The online meeting, with only nine members of the Berlin government present in Town Hall, was held through Facebook Live and had over 1,000 views by the end of the week.

“There’s some tweaks we want to make with the livestreaming,” he said. “[Also,] I can rearrange the seating a little bit … I mean, my foot looked really good in that live stream [but] we’ll adjust it a little bit differently, so you have a better visual.”

One of those changes includes changing the angle by 180 degrees so the camera is looking back at the dais in the center of the room where the mayor and Town Council sit.

“What I’m thinking on that is to have the angle be so that it catches the visitor’s table and then the folks at the dais, but as far as capturing folks in the audience, I don’t see it happening any time real soon,” Fleetwood said.

The town will also be acquiring a new cell phone to be used to record the meetings. During the first meeting, the meeting was recorded through Deputy Town Administrator Mary Bohlen’s personal cell phone.

As for the public’s reception of the online sessions, Fleetwood said he received several positive comments from residents, although they did whether they would be able to ask questions during the live streaming.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have the technology to do that,” he said. “So, what we’ll do, as long as we’re staying in this posture … we’ll stay with same [routine] where the agendas are released early and then anybody can submit their questions in writing and they will be addressed.”

Only one person submitted questions for the council during its meeting on the general fund budget, Fleetwood said. Some residents did comment during the live-streamed meeting, but that’s an approach Fleetwood advises against, because officials  can’t address those comments until after the session has been completed.

However, there is still plenty of time to submit any questions regarding the next budget work session or Town Hall meeting, which will take place at 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. this upcoming Monday, respectively.

Written questions should be submitted to the council by noon the day of the meetings. Questions can be emailed to info@berlinmd.gov (the town asked that residents use M&C Comments as the subject line); faxed to 410-641-2316; mailed to Berlin Town Hall, 10 Williams St., Berlin, MD 21811 (mail should be posted no later close of business on the Friday before the meeting to help ensure delivery) or dropped off in one of the two drop boxes at Town Hall – one is at the rear of the building behind the stair tower, and the other is at the corner of Bay and Williams Street on the building.

Overall, Fleetwood though the meeting went really well.

“I appreciate everyone’s patience,” he said.

The next meetings will take place once again on Facebook live at the Town of Berlin Facebook page this Monday. The first public hearing for the tax rate adoption and constant yield rate will be held on Monday, May 11.