LORDSTOWN, Ohio - With a council meeting scheduled for Monday evening during a worsening coronavirus pandemic, Lordstown Mayor Arno Hill and the six council members have decided to forego their usual location inside the village administration building. Instead, they’ll meet outside in the parking lot.

“We’re practicing social distancing, and we’ll be standing 10 feet apart (instead of the usual six feet),” the mayor told 21 News Monday. “The public is welcome to come, but they’ll have to keep their distance,” Hill said the agenda contains only two items, and the meeting is likely to last just 10 minutes, but anyone wishing to speak to council will be given the opportunity if requested.

The parking lot is just one of several alternatives chosen by councils and township trustees who must conduct their governmental business and legislation while practicing required separation to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Newton Falls continues to meet in council chambers in the village’s administration building, but strictly limits attendance. However, like a growing number of its governmental counterparts, the village has turned to social media for real-time viewing. Newton Falls Council offers live video coverage on a YouTube page (Newton Falls Television) and the city’s Facebook page. For several years, council meetings have been televised live on Spectrum Cable (channel 1023).

“The neat thing about our Facebook page is that it lets the public comment live during the meeting (with) the meeting on the top half of the page and the comments on the bottom,” said Dave Lynch, city manager. Some of the comments, he admitted, tend to be “quite critical.” Residents still have the opportunity to speak to council. Lynch said if they request by text, they will be called, and their comments will be live-streamed into council. “It’s not at all disruptive,” the city manager said.

Lynch said those who decide to attend the meeting would be given a mask, which must be worn until they leave the administration building. “Every person will be temperature checked, and no one will be admitted if their temperature is not below 100,” he said, citing a standard set by Amy Acton, director of the Ohio Department of Health.

Champion Township Trustees and Cortland City Council are turning to different technologies for public access to their meetings—both for the first time. “Everybody’s afraid of being in one room together,” said Doug Emerine, Champion Trustees chairman. Champion will use GoToMeeting, an Internet video-conferencing platform. “We’ve never used this particular format, and I don’t know what to expect,” he told 21 News. “It will be a bit of a learning curve,” Emerine said residents would be able to make public comments at the meeting’s conclusion.

Cortland Council plans to make use of one of the fastest-growing mobile phone apps: Zoom, also a video conferencing platform. After downloading the app and identifying Cortland Council, residents can press “join the meeting” and watch the session. “We’re setting precedent here,” said council President Kevin Piros who has participated in “multiple Zooms in the private sector.” City Clerk Rhonda Horn expressed concern about news reports of hackers into Zoom meetings, but Piros said such incidents could be controlled. “We will either mute them or remove them if something is inappropriate,” he said.

Regardless of the outcome, Champion’s Emerine said he expects use of Internet alternatives to continue throughout Ohio’s state of emergency and perhaps even afterward. “Everybody’s finding solutions right now, and we just want to keep things rolling,” he said.