New Public Meeting Schedule Announced
Reading, PA — The Berks County Commissioners announced several meeting changes Thursday making it clear they are beginning the transition towards a “New Normal.” In a statement released today the commissioners announced “that it is time to focus on reopening the county. While there is much that needs to be done, we believe the County of Berks and the commissioners need to make more changes to provide more access and visibility for the public into county decisions that need to be made as we transition towards a “New Normal.”
Daily COVID-19 Leadership Meetings ending
The daily Berks COVID-19 Leadership meetings that were established in the March 12th Berks County declaration of local disaster emergency will no longer occur except in the case of a COVID-19 related emergency.
Commissioners’ Weekly Thursday Meetings Will Resume May 7, 2020 at 10AM.
These meetings will be held virtually via a Microsoft Teams Live Event and broadcast live on BCTV. The public may participate via the Q&A feature on Microsoft Teams Live. A link to each weekly commissioners’ Microsoft Team Live meeting will be posted on the County’s home page at www.countyofberks.com along with the meeting agenda. The link will be different
each week and unique to that week’s meeting.
New Berks County Operations Meeting Announced
The Berks County Commissioners will also be holding a weekly Berks County Operations meeting each Tuesday at 9:30AM. These meetings will be held virtually via a Microsoft Teams Live Event. The public may participate via the Q&A feature on Microsoft Teams Live. A link to each weekly operations meeting Microsoft Team Live event will be posted on the County’s home page at www.countyofberks.com along with the meeting agenda. The link will be different each week and unique to that week’s meeting.
Phase 3 Recovery & Beyond Meeting Announced
As the commissioners begin the process of moving Berks County government towards a “New Normal,” they will be holding a weekly Phase 3 Recovery & Beyond Committee meeting each Thursday from 1PM-3PM. The Committee is composed of the following members: Commissioner Christian Leinbach/Committee Chair, Commissioner Kevin Barnhardt/Chair of
the Savings & Efficiency Task Force, Commissioner Michael Rivera/Committee Vice Chair, executive assistants, Mary Buerer, Jessica Blauser & Barbara Lopez, Ron Seaman/CAO, Christine Sadler/Solicitor, Jessica Weaknecht/HR Director & Kristen Scheffler/HR Deputy Director. These meetings will be held virtually via a Microsoft Teams Live Event. The public may participate via the Q&A feature on Microsoft Teams Live. A link to each Phase 3 Recovery & Beyond Microsoft Team Live event will be posted on the County’s home page at www.countyofberks.com along with the meeting agenda. The link will be different each week and unique to that week’s meeting.
There Is No Established Transition Back to Face-To-Face Meetings
The Commissioners have not established any deadline for when these public meetings will move to in person meetings. For now, neither the commissioners, their staff, nor the public will be meeting in the same room. All communications will be virtual. We look forward to getting back to face-to-face meetings as soon as it is appropriate to do so.
