At the start of the what I like to call the “Covid-19 era”, the Town shut Victoria Hall to the public. They also made Council meetings virtual but now that we have a gradual re-opening of everything, that has changed. The Committee of the Whole Council meeting on Monday 14 September was “in person” and held in the Concert Hall instead of Council Chambers. With advance notice, the public were admitted. However, You-Tube streaming was still available so there was no real need to go to the meeting unless you planned to participate with a delegation. Below are some screen grabs taken near the start of the meeting. From what I could see, apart from Councillors, all but one person were participants – representing the County (5 re the GPL), the Coast Guard (1) or Mason Homes (2). The other one appeared to be a news reporter.
I counted a total of 9 in the audience and it seemed the capacity was 17 due to the need to keep seats spaced per social distancing requirements. To attend, you need to give advance notice to Town Clerk Brent Larmer.
Councillors and staff were socially distanced and a welcome change was much improved sound although this was spoiled if a user spoke too close to the microphone (e.g. Brent). The video was still low definition (480p) and the cameras did not show presentations.
It’s expected that future Council meetings and Public Meetings will use the same format. There is no word yet on when Victoria Hall will be open for anything other than these meetings and the AGN.
Here are the screen grabs (with names added):
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