Title
Consider a resolution authorizing the Mayor to execute Amendment No. 1 to "Interlocal Agreement for the establishment, operation and maintenance of the Williamson County Radio Communications System."
Body
Williamson County owns and operates the public safety Radio Communications System (RCS) used by nearly all public safety agencies in the county. An interlocal agreement (ILA) [City Council Resolution R-08-03-27-8C1] governs RCS operations and provides for participation by several local cities through an RCS Advisory Board. The county seeks to amend that agreement to allow the advisory board to meet more efficiently through virtual means instead of routinely traveling to Georgetown for in-person meetings.
The proposed mechanism to make that happen is removing the ILA's requirement to adhere to the requirements of the Texas Open Meetings Act as it conducts its business. During the years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the county found that the act prohibited it from conducting virtual meetings unless a member of the representative body (commissioners court, board, etc.) was present in a meeting space accessible to the public where the public could observe as the member participated in the meeting virtually. In 2008, when the original agreement was written, virtual meetings were a rarity; now, they are commonplace.
Not adhering to the act would allow board meetings to easily be conducted virtually, and meetings and minutes would no longer have to be posted publicly. RCS personnel have stated that part of the consideration for the latter freedoms have to do with the sometimes sensitive nature of system issues, as they are part of the county’s critical public safety infrastructure.
Cost: None
Source of Funds: N/A