Columbia’s city council will only meet once in July, due to the upcoming renovations of the council chambers at city hall.
Mayor Barbara Buffaloe tells 939 the Eagle that renovations will take place during the last week of June and the first two weeks of July:
“We will not have our first meeting in July like we normally would on July 6 because that (the chamber) will be under construction. And similarly there will not be a planning and zoning meeting later that Thursday,” Mayor Buffaloe says.
She says the technology in the council chamber will be updated to make meetings more accessible for those who don’t attend meetings in-person.
Mayor Buffaloe briefed the Columbia Regional Economic Development Incorporated (REDI) board along with business leaders on Wednesday. Mayor Buffaloe tells 939 the Eagle that the old part of city hall was built in 1901 and that the “new” part was built in 2010:
“And so obviously the technology that we took from actually the old chambers and put in the new chambers is way old. And it needs to be updated and we want to make our meetings more accessible for people who can’t come to city hall. So the conference like when we have pre-council and work sessions and board and commission meetings in conference rooms … those are also going to be updated for streaming capabilities”
What’s next: The Columbia city council will meet on Monday June 15, but the July 6 meeting has been canceled.