Stevensville Re-implements Virtual Meetings, Increases Citizen Participation

Stevensville, MT – The Town of Stevensville has been successfully engaging citizens in their Council meetings through live webcasting for over 2 years. In April, the Town of Stevensville added a new participation guide and implemented steps to broaden civic involvement in its virtual public meetings online.

The Town Council has been meeting in person since June 1st, as Governor Bullock announced Phase II of his Reopening the Big Sky Plan. This week, Mayor Brandon Dewey announced that meetings would go back to a virtual state for the safety of citizens, staff, and elected officials. 

Using the Town’s web-based meetings application, citizens were able to view the agenda and then submit their opinions on upcoming meeting agenda items from any computer or phone with an Internet connection instead of requiring them to attend the meeting in person to have their voices heard. The Town’s website live streams any virtual meeting of the Town Council.

This week, the Town launched yet another way for citizens to engage with their local government through a real-time webform that instantly sends public comment directly to the Town Council. The form is accessible through links directly on the agenda and allows citizens to choose the agenda item they wish to comment on. Public comment that is submitted through the form will be included in the official written minutes of the meeting. 

“This is a powerful extension of the Council's desire to make city government, the Town Council, and our meetings as accessible as possible for the citizens. Citizens can comment on an agenda item prior to and throughout the meeting from the comfort of their home, in order to let the Council Members know how they feel about a particular issue. Government doesn’t get any more responsive and interactive with it's citizens than that when doing virtual meetings,” said Mayor Brandon Dewey.

Citizens can comment in one of four different ways:

• Public comment sent to council@townofstevensville.com will be distributed by email to the Town Council before and during Town Council meetings.
• Public comment can be mailed to the Town Clerk at 206 Buck Street or PO Box 30
• A half hour prior to the start of a virtual public meeting, the Town will place a drop box outside the front door at 206 Buck Street where citizens can drop off written comments. Comments will be read during the relevant agenda item’s public comment period.
• Citizens can use the public comment webform for the respective meeting. A link is located directly on the agenda and the form can be submitted multiple times. Comment can be submitted before or during the meeting

To view upcoming meeting agendas, watch the live stream, or find links to provide public comment, citizens can go to www.townofstevensville.com/meetings and navigate to their desired meeting date for agenda information. 

“By providing an electronic way to for citizens to comment on the issues important to them, the Town will be able to reach a broader segment of our community and hear feedback from more people,” said Mayor Dewey. “This demonstrates a commitment to strengthening collaboration with citizens and maintains the Town of Stevensville’s goals of an open government, even amid social distancing.”

Citizens can access the new web form and view the complete Guide for Town of Stevensville Virtual Meetings and Citizen Participation on the Town’s website www.townofstevensville.com