CBS council preparing to re-enter chambers
By Chris Lewis | July 16, 2020
Conception Bay South Mayor Terry French says a return to in-person council meetings may be on the horizon.
For the past few months, councillors have been meeting via online to conduct their regular meetings. That way, they are able to adhere to the provincial guidelines for social and physical distancing.
The most recent meeting, however, was planned to go ahead a bit differently according to Mayor French.
French explained council had hoped to conduct the full meeting together in the chamber. The Town Hall would remain closed to the public, but the meeting itself would have been livestreamed. It would have marked the first time since early April that councilors had met face-to-face together.
“We now have the cameras in place – I know Deputy Mayor (Richard) Murphy was a big advocate of that,” French said, referencing new cameras that have been installed in the chambers to allow for the meetings to be livestreamed and recorded in real-time, as is done in Mount Pearl.
“His wish has come true,” French joked.
Although the cameras have been installed, French said they were not quite ready to go for the July 14th meeting and needed extra tweaking before they were confident in the technology. Council is hoping to have the cameras ready to roll for the next meeting coming up on August 11.
Even then, French said, the public will not be allowed to attend in-person as to avoid attracting any sort of large gathering.
“At least you’ll be able to watch it, which has been the intent right from the get-go, even before COVID,” he added.