With health and safety in mind, Singing River Electric worked to plan the July drive-in annual meeting. The meeting had to be short to take into account the heat of the afternoon, and it had to be viewed from within attendee vehicles to ensure safe distancing due to COVID-19. All employees and members were encouraged to wear masks.
“Having the meeting outdoors was a first for our cooperative,” said General Manager and CEO Brian Hughey. “Our goal was to provide our members with a meeting, yet keep safety absolutely our prime focus.”
Employees wearing a bright yellow, reflective vest guided members to park along the side of the SRE’s building and signs instructed attendees to tune into an FM broadcast to hear the meeting proceedings from their vehicles. Meeting registration was done touch-free using iPads with these employees donning masks and gloves. Participants honked to make motions and vote.
Singing River Electric member Mary Mallette posted on SRE’s Facebook page that “Given the situation we were all in with COVID-19, this meeting could not have gone better! I felt like I was a part of something special and just love how organized and how well the meeting went.”
Board members James “Robert” Steele from District 1, Roy Grafe from District 2 and Kristal Sisson from District 3 were re-elected to their board seats for a three-year term.
“Everyone followed our safety guidelines and seemed to enjoy the changed format,” said Hughey. “We felt the departure this year from our normal meeting setup was a success.”
