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RIDGELY – A lightning strike that hit Ridgely Town Hall on Thursday July 31 knocked out internet access and forced town offices to close on Friday, Aug. 1. As a result, the Monday, Aug. 4 Town Commission meeting was held in person only — but that wasn’t announced publicly until the meeting had already begun, leaving several residents confused and frustrated.
The surprise in-person-only format for the Aug. 4 Commissioners Meeting raised transparency concerns for Ridgely residents
In the Really Ridgely Facebook group, a number of users expressed concern that the virtual viewing link on the meeting’s agenda appeared inoperable when clicked. One resident who was attending the meeting in-person clarified via a comment on that post that the meeting would not be streamed online due to technical issues from the lightning strike.
Commenters were disappointed in how the situation was handled, with one resident writing, “They knew long before the meeting started they weren’t streaming, but still decided to not let anyone know.”
Stephanie Berkey, Ridgely’s Town Clerk, said that the lack of prior notice was “a simple mistake.”
“It was a mad scramble to get everything together [for the meeting],” she said. She went on to say the town had a meeting earlier on Monday afternoon, which, coupled with setbacks from the lightning strikes’ effects and the Town Hall closure on Friday, even led to “talk of cancelling” the town meeting altogether. She said “there was no intent” behind the lack of public notice, and the town apologizes for the oversight.
“We apologize…I’m sorry that it happened.”
