Sarnia council has unanimously approved a one year pilot allowing participants to attend meetings in person or virtually via ZOOM, but rejected a proposed time change.
Councillor Terry Burrell thinks keeping the virtual option for attendance is a good idea.
"Even though I'm fully vaccinated, I am still avoiding crowds and other people probably more than I should be," said Burrell.
Mayor Mike Bradley's recommendation to continue holding regular meetings at 10 a.m. for one year, when in-person meetings resume, didn't receive the same enthusiasm.
While councillor Brian White agreed the time is more convenient for him, he admitted it amounted to one less day of preparation.
"Normally, Mondays would have been completely blocked off for me to consult with staff and to continue to ask questions to prepare for 4 p.m., so I do feel that there was a compromise in terms of it being more convenient to fit in my day," said White. "I'm going to have to lean towards the afternoon meetings, both from a public engagement perspective and from a preparation point of view."
Multiple councillors felt morning meetings may deter people from addressing council or running for council and the motion was defeated.
"If we're going to continue to move forward, especially following the next election, to seek and engage the community to serve the public on council, we have to make sure that we are appealing to the broadest opportunity possible and attract people who would often otherwise be working during the day," White said.
In-person meetings have now been postponed to January 2022.
Council approved the delay request from City Clerk Amy Burkhart in response to evolving data around the COVID-19 Delta variant, recent experiences in other jurisdictions, and the provincial government's decision to pause the full exit from the Roadmap to Reopen.
