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A. Policy Statement.  It is the policy of the Tri-Township Public Library District that a member of the Board of Trustees; which is subject to the provisions of the Open Meetings Act may attend and participate in any open or closed meeting of Tri-Township Public Library District Board of Trustees from a remote location via telephone, video or internet connection, provided that such attendance and participation is in compliance with this policy and any other applicable laws.

B. Prerequisites.  A member of the Tri-Township Public Library District’s Board of Trustees shall be provided the opportunity to attend an open and closed meeting or only one such meetings from a remote location if the member meets that following conditions and a majority of a quorum of the Board of Trustees votes to approve the remote attendance;
  1. The member must notify the recording secretary or clerk of the Board of Trustees at least twenty-four (24) hours before the meeting unless advance notice is impractical;
  2. The member must meet one of three reasons described herein why he or she is unable to physically attend the meeting, including either: (1) that the member cannot attend because of personal illness or disability; (2) the member cannot attend because of employment purposes or the business of the Tri-Township Public Library District, or (3) the member cannot attend because of a family or other emergency; and
  3. A quorum of the Board of Trustees must be physically present.

C. Voting Procedure. After roll call, a vote of the Board of Trustees shall be taken, considering the prerequisites set forth in paragraph (B), on whether to allow an off-site board member to participate remotely.  All of the members physically present are permitted to vote on whether remote participation will be allowed.  A vote may be taken to permit remote participation for a stated series of meetings if the same reason applies in each case.  Otherwise a vote must be taken to allow each remote participation.  

D. Quorum and Vote Required.  A quorum must be established by members physically present at any meeting before it can be considered whether to allow a member to participate in the meeting remotely.  A vote of a majority of a quorum shall be necessary to decide the issue.  For the meeting to continue there shall always need to be a quorum physically present.

E. Minutes.  The member participating remotely shall be considered an off-site participant and counted as present by means of video or audio conference, for that meeting of the members is allowed to participate.  The meeting minutes of the Tri-Township Public Library District shall also reflect and state specifically whether each member is physically present, present by video, or present by audio means.

Adopted: 3/16