North Battleford city council shown at Monday's online meeting. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW staff)

By Angela Brown

New venue

City to begin hybrid in-person, online council meetings

Mar 29, 2022 | 8:15 AM

North Battleford city council will begin meeting in person again starting at its next council meeting.

City Manager Randy Patrick presented the option to council at Monday’s meeting.

Council meetings will be held at the new site at the Don Ross Centre in Room 107 starting April 11.

There will also be space for the public to attend in person if they wish. People also have the option to view the proceedings online via Zoom similar to the current set up.

Patrick said most members of administration will continue to participate remotely.

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He offered council the option of the hybrid in person and online model after being asked to see how soon they could begin meeting in person again.

While the new site does not have all the electronic technology in place yet, council members can bring their own laptops to be able to access their individual cameras to still be seen on Zoom. Patrick said council will need to speak up during the proceedings as there could be issues with volume.

“We may have some problems with hearing, but I think the speakers in the room are fairly reasonable for people who are online,” he said.

Patrick added if any councillors wish to attend remotely from home that is also possible.

Council supported having meetings move to a hybrid model, to facilitate in-person meetings at the new permanent council chambers at the Don Ross Centre, as well as online via Zoom starting at the next scheduled regular meeting. Coun. Bill Ironstand was not present during Monday’s meeting for the vote on the proposal.

Council meetings were temporarily held in person at the Chapel Gallery from Nov. 2020 to September 2021 to allow for social distancing as a COVID-19 restriction. The public were able to view council meetings remotely. Meetings then moved to solely virtual platforms when the gallery returned to hosting art shows again.

The city has been working to modify a room in the Don Ross Centre as a permanent site for council meetings, both to provide added space and to offer a venue all members of the public could access easily. The challenge with the original council chambers at City Hall is that the venue was situated in a relatively small space, and the public needed to climb a couple sets of stairs to access it, a hindrance to those with mobility issues.

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Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow