Harrison’s village council meetings could return to combined Zoom and in-person meetings in time for the first meeting of 2022.
During the Dec. 6 meeting, councillors approved a bylaw amendment for three readings that would allow for a more permanent way to conduct in-person/electronic hybrid meetings for both attendees and members of council. The bylaw amendments would be up for final approval at the Dec. 20 meeting, village staff confirmed.
Harrison’s village council met in hybrid meetings from Memorial Hall since last June to the beginning of this October. Meetings moved over to Memorial Hall to accommodate in-person meetings and allow space for limited public attendance seated at safe distances.
RELATED: Harrison Council approves Zoom meetings for council and public
During the Oct. 18 meeting, council approved using up to $6,00 from the COVID-19 Restart Grant to pay for labour and secure storage for broadcasting equipment. The readings of the bylaw amendment were expected to take place during the Nov. 15 meeting, but this meeting was cancelled amid the atmospheric river floods last month.
A council meeting has not been uploaded to the village’s YouTube channel since Nov. 2. Meetings have otherwise been consistently archived in full online since last December.
RELATED: Harrison Council approves funds for virtual council meetings, events
Since March 2020, Memorial Hall was not open to public events with three exceptions: the provincial and federal elections and one memorial service this summer when indoor gathering restrictions were loosened and before the B.C. vaccine card program went into effect. The Valdy concert in mid-November marked the first public concert held at Memorial Hall since the pandemic started.
The next regular Village of Harrison Hot Springs council meeting takes place at Memorial Hall at 7 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 20.
@adamEditor18
adam.louis@ ahobserver.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.