Sarnia council has appointed a new acting mayor for 2021.
Councillor Brian White will preside at meetings where the mayor is absent, refuses to act or the office is vacant.
White takes over for Mike Stark.
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Sarnia council held off on approving a hybrid approach to voting for the 2022 municipal election.
Councillor Terry Burrell asked that recommendations from the election committee be tabled for 60 days until the cost of offering both paper ballots and online voting is known.
The election committee has also recommended telephone voting be eliminated and that council meetings not be held during election campaigns, unless an emergency session is needed.
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Sarnia council has approved a plan to help restaurant owners in the downtown and Mitton Village.
One, on-street parking space, immediately adjacent to an establishment, will be designated for takeout or curbside pickup from December 15 to April 30, 2021, and beyond if needed.
Council recognized the hardships on restaurants will likely last longer than the next four months and was hesitant to establish a set end date on the pilot.
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Sarnia council has extended the Victoria Street Parking Lot pilot project.
Nearly half of the 120 municipal parking spaces were made available, free for use, to the public to support downtown merchants and longer-term daytime visitors.
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Council has given staff the green light to proceed with a COVID-19 Resilience Infrastructure Stream funding application.
It would split $739,000 between three projects, the revitalization of Tecumseh and Harry Turnbull parks and resilience infrastructure, including beds and other equipment obtained for the field hospital, and IT enhancements.
