This is a strange summer… I suspect this will be our last Council meeting until our regular meetings resume on August 17, but that’s just a guess!
Agenda highlights
Resumption of in-person Council meetings
Administration is recommending that we resume meetings in chambers, with precautions. Proposed safety measures include plastic barriers between councillors, masks being required in the public gallery, and a plastic guard at the public podium. Councillors and the public would continue to be permitted to attend electronically.
One of the proposed alternatives is to continue holding meetings virtually as this is the most effective way to eliminate the potential for virus transmission. Even if this alternative is not selected, I suspect that I’ll be attending virtually fairly regularly because my kids are likely going back to in-person school, and they’ll require isolation any time they show symptoms of a cold (which means I’ll likely also have symptoms!)… It’ll be a strange season.
Temporary face covering bylaw
If this passes, face coverings will be required on transit and in City facilities (including the library, Servus Place, etc.), with exemptions for persons who are:
under the age of 2 years;
unable to place/use/remove a Face Covering without assistance;
unable to wear a Face Covering due to a bona fide mental or physical condition, disability or limitation, or other grounds for protection from discrimination under the Alberta Human Rights Act;
consuming food or drink while seated in a designated food and drink seating area, or as part of a religious or spiritual ceremony;
engaged in swimming or other water activities, or engaged in physical exercise or other physical activity, within an area designated for such activities;
providing or receiving care or assistance for a bona fide mental or physical condition, disability or limitation and a Face Covering would have hindered providing or receiving that caregiving or assistance;
a participant in a dance, theatrical or musical public performance, if all participants in the performance maintained at least 2 metres of physical distance from each other and did not enter the area where the public was viewing the performance; or
a Transit Operator, if barriers were in place to create physical screening between the Transit Operator and passengers in the Transit Vehicle.
It’s also possible that Council follows the Edmonton lead and extends the bylaw to all places within the city that are accessible to the public, including places like grocery stores.
This is a brief and incomplete overview of our meetings, with my personal comments sprinkled in - In no way are my opinions representative of the official direction of council or the City of St. Albert. Please let me know of any typos or errors.