City officials in Marion are reconsidering whether to continue broadcasting public meetings on Zoom following disruptions during the April 9 council meeting.
Twice during the meeting, a loud male voice interrupted the proceedings over Zoom. The speaker’s comments were unintelligible, and the city clerk ultimately muted his access. In response, some city leaders have publicly raised the possibility of no longer streaming meetings online— a practice that has been in place since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic to improve public access.
The disruption came during a routine council session that included the swearingin of Charles Sanders as the new representative for District 3. Sanders will serve the remainder of the term until the position is up for election in November.
Also on the agenda was a proposal to rehabilitate the city’s main water tank. The council unanimously approved a $274,000 bid from Robinson and Sons Construction to sandblast and repaint both the interior and exterior of the tank. The work, which is expected to take three months, will be funded through State Revolving Fund (SRF) dollars administered by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management. Temporary water storage tanks will supply the city during the repairs.
Later in the meeting, Chris Skelton of Alabama Fiber Network (AFN) presented a proposal to run middle-mile fiber optic cable through the city limits.
While the AFN does not provide residential service, it offers high-speed infrastructure to first responders and institutions, and could improve last-mile access for private providers like Spectrum. The council tabled a decision on the proposal pending review by the city attorney.
The next council meeting is expected to revisit both the AFN proposal and potential changes to the city’s public meeting broadcast policies.
