Starting November 22, the Town of Amherstburg will hold its town council and committee meetings in person.
It is the first municipality in the region to start inviting the public back, but councillors have been meeting face-to-face for some time.
"Council felt that meetings are, I guess, more engaging when it's in-person as opposed to online," explained Mayor Aldo DiCarlo. "Now that, you know, restrictions have lifted in the province, we can also invite residents back into council chambers."
There are some ground rules. First, everyone who goes to watch a council or committee meeting must be fully vaccinated. Proof of vaccination is required. Second, they must wear a mask.
"This is a cautious approach to try and bring back some normalcy. For residents, meetings are more engaging for those who like to be there in-person, so we felt the sooner we could do that, the better it would be for everyone," said DiCarlo.
Since everyone must be masked and vaccinated, council chambers can open to capacity. A plexiglass barrier will separate the public from councillors, and some administrators will still appear online.
Residents who have not had their vaccination can still watch the live-streamed proceedings.
On Monday, the town's mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy for went into effect. DiCarlo hopes to release Amherstburg's compliance rate in the coming days.
