Technically, work sessions of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners are “meetings,” and the same rules as always apply.

However, work sessions are very different in tone and atmosphere than the more formal, regular Thursday night meetings the commissioners hold on the first and third Thursday of most months. This year, for mid-October, the board has pulled a switcheroo: It canceled a planned Thursday, Oct. 15 regular evening meeting and added a 3 p.m. work session for that afternoon.

The county hasn’t yet released the agenda for the Thursday work session, but Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Jeff Phillips said on Thursday, Oct. 8 that the board will be discussing a number of items, including the county’s employee health insurance plan and the current status of the $94 million in coronavirus relief money that the federal government gave the county earlier this year to address the pandemic.

Phillips added that the board will also vote on an incentives package which was discussed in detail at the board’s Thursday, Oct. 1 meeting and it will also deal with some “miscellaneous” items.

The work session isn’t open to the public due to the pandemic, however, a limited number of members of the media will be allowed in the meeting room, and the entire affair will be streamed live on the internet – assuming no technical glitches, that is. Those who would like to watch can do so using a computer, tablet or smartphone by going to https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7267627134151834635, completing the registration form and selecting “Join Webinar.”

The meeting, which is scheduled to last about two hours, is one of only a few remaining for Phillips, who chose not to run for reelection this year to his District 5 commissioners seat. He currently chairs a board with five Republicans and four Democrats, and, depending on the outcome of the election, this could be one of the few remaining meetings for a Republican-majority board.