(BIVN) – A community meeting on the ongoing eruption of Kilauea Volcano was held Tuesday evening in Pahoa.

A light crowd compared to past meetings gathered to hear the latest from Hawaii County officials on the disaster response and recovery. The event began with the traditional pule by Kahu Piilani Kaawaloa, followed by a statement from county managing director Wil Okabe. Mayor Harry Kim was not in attendance.

Hawaii County Civil Defense administrator Talmadge Magno did most of the speaking, as per usual.

However, the county did try something new at the meeting. Roy Takemoto, the mayor’s executive assistant, engaged the audience in an electronic poll, passing out remote units that enabled the crowd to vote. The demonstration succeeded in gathering an idea where all the attendees where from and formed a preliminary picture of their past and present living arrangements in Puna, until the process ran into technical difficulties. Officials said they would like to try it again at a future meeting.

Big Island Video News will have more from this meeting.