Council Will Transition To In-Person Meetings In South Brunswick April

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — Next month, South Brunswick will be moving to in-person meetings for Council and all other Municipal departments.

Like many townships across the country, South Brunswick pivoted to remote meetings in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. While many New Jersey municipalities switched back to in-person meetings last year, South Brunswick is among the few, still holding meeting remotely three years into the pandemic.

During the last Council meeting, Township Manager Bryan Bidlack announced that officials are working towards providing a hybrid format for the meetings, so residents can participate remotely. The in-person meetings will be held at the Council chambers.

Mayor Charlie Carley said the hybrid meeting format also gives Council and governing body members “a bit of flexibility,” to attend remotely, as they often find themselves traveling for work.

Carley asked if the hybrid format could be up and running by April. However, Bidlack said it might take some time to get the system operational.

“I don’t want to put a specific timeline on it because I don’t know the specific details," Bidlack said. "We want to make sure we have a great product out there that is user-friendly.”

Many townships, including South Brunswick, saw an increase in public participation since going remote during the pandemic.

The move to offer a hybrid format is to encourage public participation.

Neighboring Princeton returned to in-person meetings in September last year, while offering a hybrid format for residents to participate.

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