Patti Dozier/Times-EnterpriseMark Harmon, City of Thomasville chief building official, illustrates the width of obtrusive posts in the city council conference room at City Hall.

THOMASVILLE — Two large, obtrusive posts at City Hall that obstruct views and interfere with sight and sound at Thomasville City Council meetings are about to undergo serious analysis.

People attending meetings cannot see around the sheetrock-covered large posts, which also make it difficult to hear some speakers.

City Manager Alan Carson, whose first day on the job was Jan. 7, said that before taking office, he watched live-streamed council meetings and wondered about the posts and their purpose.

“There is definitely a column under there of some sort,” said Mark Harmon, City of Thomasville chief building official.

Inside the square posts might be a steel or concrete column, Harmon said, adding that the posts’ exteriors are light-weight framework with dry wall veneers.

The posts might contain plumbing lines or large groups of electric wires coming from the basement and going to somewhere above on the City Hall second floor.

The room where the two posts loom is the city council conference room where council workshops have been conducted recently. The room was designed as a reception area. When city council outgrew former workshop meeting rooms at City Hall and the Municipal Building, the meetings were moved to the former reception area.

Harmon said what is now the city council conference room was part of a City Hall renovation project in the early 2000s. The room previously housed city treasurer offices until the office was moved to the then-new Municipal Building on Victoria Place.

The posts might contain second-floor support. Support might be possible with beams, Harmon said.

“We’re examining the possibility of replacing the columns with beams that traverse the room,” he said.