AUGUSTA — The public will be allowed to take part in City Council meetings remotely, something that took place at the peak of the coronavirus pandemic but which officials believe could improve access for residents who may not have time or the ability to go to city hall and sit through a meeting.

Councilors agreed Thursday to allow residents and other members of the public to take part in council meetings through an online stream even as councilors gather together in-person. They want to continue trying out the hybrid approach before potentially adding it to the city’s under-development remote meeting policy.

At-Large Councilor Raegan LaRochelle, who is also a state representative, said the Legislature is already experimenting with allowing the public to testify, in committee hearings, online via Zoom. LaRochelle said it would provide a way for citizens to weigh in on issues before the City Council even if they don’t have the time or ability to attend a meeting and wait for the public comment period in person.

Councilor Eric Lind, Ward 4, right, speaks Feb. 26 during an Augusta City Council goal-setting session at the Augusta Civic Center. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal file

“It’s expanding access, for that parent at home with three kids who wants to say something to the council but can’t come down here and speak,” she said. “I just think about people with other obligations. This will allow us to hear from as many people as possible.”

At least one councilor, however, Ward 3’s Mike Michaud, expressed concern about allowing the public to take part in council meetings online. He warned it is a further step in the direction of there being less in-person, face-to-face public interaction. Michaud said as elected officials councilors are available to listen to their constituents and often bring their issues to the council to be addressed.

“I don’t want to say I’m old-fashioned, but think if we open this door a little bit, we’ll open it further and further and further,” Michaud said at Thursday’s in-person council meeting. “This is what this is supposed to be, in-person, here conducting business. I’m very nervous about opening that door. Then we amend the policy five years down the road and the door opens a bit more. Then, in 10 to 15 years, everybody is voting online and we don’t see each other and we stay home all the time. I’m deathly afraid of that.”

He pointed out examples of kids who stay inside using their cellphones all the time and “going outside is like punishment” for them.

“I just want to make sure we can still interact person to person and face to face,” he said.

Other councilors said they, too, prefer in-person communication but said the city needs to keep up with the times and provide as many ways for citizens to have input as possible.

“Obviously this is technology-driven, I’m as much a fan of interpersonal communication as Councilor Michaud is,” said Ward 2 Councilor Kevin Judkins. “But I understand the way of the world, and it’s changing. And we can’t hold it back. We need to be able to lead, follow, or get out of the way. And this is where this is headed.”

At-Large Councilor Courtney Allen said the city of Bangor and other municipalities already allow the public to participate remotely in municipal meetings, without problems.

And Augusta’s own Planning Board, just Tuesday had its first meeting under its new policy allowing the public to comment remotely. No one did, and the only one to participate in the meeting remotely was a board member, A. Delaine Nye, who zoomed into the meeting while other members met in person at Augusta City Center.

Tyler Pease, city engineer who served as “gatekeeper” of the public access system during that meeting, said to comment during the meeting a member of the public would just need to type, in the question-and-answer area of the Zoom screen, that they wanted to speak, and on which item they wished to speak. He would allow them to address the board, via online video, at the appropriate time.

At the peak of the pandemic when councilors themselves met remotely instead of in-person, members of the public could comment remotely through city staff who watched for comments to come in online, though that system was suspended when councilors returned to meeting in person.

Kate Dufour, director of advocacy and communications for Maine Municipal Association, said she didn’t have information on what other municipalities in Maine plan to do, as far as allowing the public to participate in meetings remotely as the pandemic wanes.

“We know that in some communities, the remote option has increased public participation,” Dufour said. “Provided the technology allows for easy implementation of a hybrid method, that is not too costly, communities with positive experiences will take advantage. I suspect as communities return to full in-person participation, we will learn more.”

City Manager Susan Robertson said it shouldn’t take long to set up a system to allow public remote participation in council meetings, because the city and CTV-7, which records and broadcasts meetings, including to a webstream, already have the technology and ability to do so.

The issue came up as councilors were continuing discussion on a policy to address when councilors may remotely participate in meetings.

At the suggestion of Mayor Mark O’Brien, councilors agreed to try allowing public remote participation for about three months to see how it goes. Then, if there are no major problems, councilors could consider adding to the remote meeting policy to state that the public will be able to participate in council meetings remotely.