LYNCHBURG — Despite the current Stay at Home order, Metro’s business must go on. As such, local officials got clever when planning this month’s Metro Council meeting … typically held in person at the former American Legion Building.

Tonight, the Metro Council will hold their first “socially distanced” meeting – 10 local officials will attend in person and stay six feet apart while others attend remotely. The new meeting format is based on Governor Bill Lee’s Executive Order 16, which allows city, county, and metro governments to conduct business by electronic means rather than in person during the COVID-19 health crisis. Prior to tonight’s meeting, each individual council member informed Mayor Lewis whether they intended to attend via phone, online, or in person.

Due to the trend of hackers “bombing” public meeting, The Times won’t publicly post the credentials to view the meeting. However, any citizen who wishes to attend tonight’s virtual meeting can contact the Mayor’s office for log in credentials at 931-759-7076.

Electing new fourth district council member

In elections and appointments, council members will vote on someone to replace Shawn Adams as fourth district council member.

Per guidance offered by Metro Attorney John T. Bobo prior to the meeting, “all references to a majority of its members or membership shall be interpreted as a majority of the then existing Metro Council member seats, not merely a majority vote of the quorum present and voting.” These guideline were established in 2009 .

Each fourth district candidate must be nominated by an existing council member and then receive a majority of voice votes. If there are multiple candidates, at the end of each vote, the candidate with the lowest number of votes would be dropped.

In other business, the council will also be asked to approve new members of the Metro Utility and Mayor Lewis will appear before the council to give an update on state grants.

All Metro Council meetings are held on the third Monday of the month at 6:30 p.m. at the former American Legion Building. Officials have not yet determined whether the May 18 meeting will be held virtually as well. •

{The Lynchburg Times is an independently owned and operated newspaper that publishes new stories every morning. Covering Metro Moore County government, Jack Daniel’s Distillery, Nearest Green Distillery, Tims Ford State Park, Motlow State Community College, Moore County High School, Moore County Middle School, Lynchburg Elementary, Raider Sports, plus regional and state news.}