Ted Remsnyder is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the Hudson Common Council last week adopted a local law that would allow city officials to attend meetings virtually when necessary. The law was approved unanimously. It permits the members of all city boards to attend via videoconference technology as long as a quorum of members is present in person and they cannot attend physically due to “extraordinary circumstances," Including illness, disability, quarantine orders, death of a family member or an “unexpected factor...” The change to the city code was made after the state Legislature amended the Open Meetings Law as part of the 2022-23 budget bills. That amendment gives municipalities the discretion to use videoconferencing when local governments determine it is necessary. The city code did not previously address virtual meeting policies. “It’s just sort of acknowledging that during the pandemic, municipalities discovered ways of opening up meetings to a wider audience,” Common Council President Thomas DePietro said. And the council should identify the video platform most accommodating to users with disabilities or impairments, DePietro said. “The tech committee has a number of things on their agenda and that should be one of them — assessing options other than Zoom and figuring out visual impairment ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliance," he said. Note: DePietro is an active WGXC on-air volunteer. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.