Due to a rise in coronavirus cases and the risk posed by the Delta variant, the Albany County Legislature has decided to switch to a virtual setting for its September meetings.

The Legislature’s monthly meeting on September 13 will be held via Zoom and will be streamed live for residents who would like to participate. Chairman Andrew Joyce said the decision was made after a conversation with the Albany County Health Department regarding the number of COVID cases in the County.

“After talking with the Health Department, it is clear that the risks outweigh the benefits of meeting in person. The safety of our legislative body and all our residents is the priority. While the State’s recent passage of legislation extends virtual meetings until January, we understand the importance of meeting in person so we will be evaluating the situation each month to determine our course of action,” Joyce said.

On September 2, Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation extending virtual access to public meetings under the New York State Open Meetings Law, which allows residents to virtually participate in local meeting during the COVID-19 pandemic. The legislation, which was initially implemented by Executive Order during last year's State of Emergency, allows state and local government meetings that are normally held in person to be held remotely instead, as long as the public has the ability to view or listen to the meeting and as long as the meeting is recorded and later transcribed.

The County Legislature meeting, as well as its committee meetings held at the end of the month, will be live streamed via the YouTube Channel. For those who would prefer to listen to the meetings, a dial-in option will be provided.