Pinellas Updates Public Participation Guide For Commission Meetings

PINELLAS COUNTY, FL —To promote social distancing and efficient time management, Pinellas County has updated its Public Participation Guide for Board of County Commissioners meetings to include preregistration for virtual public comment.

BCC regular meetings and most work sessions are being held temporarily in the Magnolia Room at the Pinellas County Cooperative Extension, 12520 Ulmerton Road, Largo, to permit distancing.

The board is taking public comment during regular meetings both in person and virtually; public comment is not taken during work sessions.

Because space for in-person attendance is very limited, members of the public wishing to address the board are strongly encouraged to do so virtually or to provide comments in advance.

Those wishing to address the board in person are encouraged, but not required, to preregister at PinellasCounty.org/comment.

Those wishing to comment virtually must preregister using the same web page by 5 p.m. on the day before the meeting.

Comments can also be provided in advance by completing the BCC Agenda Comment Form.

Agendas are posted approximately five days before the next meeting at pinellascounty.org/BCC_agenda.htm.

Because this is a new process, the board will offer a grace period for anyone who wishes to provide comment virtually via Zoom during its Jan. 12 meeting. For that meeting only, any virtual participants may be added to the speaking list up until that day. All future meetings will adhere to the 5 p.m. virtual preregistration deadline on the day before the meeting.

All Board of County Commissioners meetings, including work sessions and budget information sessions, are streamed at YouTube.com/PCCTV1 and PinellasCounty.org/TV and broadcast on cable TV (Spectrum 637, Frontier 44 and WOW! 18).

This press release was produced by the Pinellas County Government. The views expressed here are the author’s own.