Update, March 20: The meeting was rescheduled to 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 24, due to technical difficulties the online provider was experiencing.

"They have had an abundance of use this evening," City Clerk Melissa McCain said Thursday, March 19.

A link will be sent later and posted at flowerybranchga.org, she said.. 

Previous story: If you have a computer, you can attend the Flowery Branch City Council meeting on Thursday, March 19.

City Hall at 5410 W. Pine St. is closed because of the COVID-19 health threat, so that means no in-person meeting.

However, residents can join a teleconference online by visiting GoToMeeting at global.gotomeeting.com/join. The meeting is set to start at 6 p.m.

The page prompts the user to open a downloaded file to install an app and notes that GoToMeeting starts automatically after installing. A computer, tablet or smartphone can be used.

The meeting will feature a public comment time during the voting session. People can text comments in the app “and it will be relayed to the staff and council,” City Clerk Melissa McCain said.

City officials cite Georgia’s Open Meetings Act of 2012 allowing for the teleconference “under circumstances necessitated by emergency conditions” and as long as “means are afforded for the public to have simultaneous access.”

The public can view agenda items online by visiting flowerybranchga.org and clicking on “Agendas and Meetings” under “Your Government.” 

On the agenda is a proposal to declare a state of emergency in Flowery Branch because of the pandemic, enabling the council to hold a meeting via teleconference.

The state of emergency would continue until April 16 unless the declaration is renewed by the mayor or council “or until such time as the mayor and/or council … find that the emergency conditions no longer exist.”

Also on the agenda are a proposed 93-townhome development on 17 acres near Radford Road and across from SKF USA and a proposed 102 single-family detached homes on 44-plus acres near Gaines Ferry Road. Both projects are set for a vote.

Moving forward, the city is canceling its April 2 meeting “as we have no items to consider and we will make a decision on the April 16 meeting as things progress,” McCain said.