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Government
Surprise City Council attendance allowed again
City letting limited number watch government action
Posted
IF YOU GO
• What: Surprise City Council meetings
• When: First and third Tuesdays of the month. 4 p.m. work session, 6 p.m. regular meeting
• Where: City Hall, 16000 N. Civic Center Plaza
Information: surpriseaz.gov
Independent Newsmedia
Surprise City Council meetings are reopening to limited in-person attendance as COVID-19 conditions improve.
Call-in and email options will still be available for those wishing to participate remotely.
Meetings have been closed to in-person attendance since March to help stop the spread of the virus. But city officials decided to reopen the meetings after three weeks of improvemets in the number of new positive COVID cases in Surprise.
The meetings, however, will still be under the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines of no gatherings of more than 50 people, incuding staff.
Other guidelines include:
Face coverings are required per the city’s and county’s ordinances. Those can be found at surpriseaz.gov/facecoverings.
Physical distancing measures will be in place — at least 6 feet from people who are not from your household.
People who feel sick should stay home.
Those who attend in person will be required to wear a face covering when entering and exiting the chambers, but can choose to not wear one while sitting.
To help ensure physical distancing inside the chambers, seating will be marked with at least six feet of separation.
A partial reopening for in-person attendance is also planned for the next meetings of the Planning and Zoning Commission (starting Thursday, Sept. 17) and the Veterans, Disability and Human Services Commission (starting Wednesday, Oct. 14).
Surprise streams and broadcasts its City Council, Planning and Zoning Commissionand Veterans, Disability and Human Services Commission meetings.
Cox channel 11 and Century Link channel 8513 also carry the meetings live.
The Arts and Cultural Advisory Commission will resume its open-to-the public meetings in the Council Overflow Room at City Hall starting Monday, Oct. 5.
Future city boards and commission meetings and Council subcommittee meetings will be moved to their traditional locations and will be open to the public — with the same capacity, physical distancing and mask guidelines.
To see all meeting agendas, visit surpriseaz.gov/agendas.
For questions about public meetings, contact the City Clerk at 623-222-1200 or clerk@surpriseaz.gov.
City Hall remains closed to the public except for access to public meetings. No date has been determined for the reopening of City Hall.
For contact information and instructions on doing city business during this time, visit surpriseaz.gov/COVID-19.
