ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETINGS Staff Report

ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETINGS

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT the Advisory Committees continue to meet electronically on the Microsoft Teams meeting platform until at least December 31, 2022;

AND THAT that the December 31, 2022 date for Advisory Committee electronic meetings be re-evaluated in the fall of 2022.

CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER’S COMMENTS:

I concur with the recommendation.

PURPOSE OF REPORT:

To follow-up on Council motion C-117-21 regarding the Advisory Committees’ meetings format.

BACKGROUND:

At the July 2021 Committee of the Whole meeting a decision was made to bring the advisory committees back to an in-person meeting format beginning on January 1, 2022 on an alternating month basis given that the membership numbers have now grown too large for both groups to meet in Town Hall on the same night.

Then, when the Province languished at Step 3 of the BC ReStart Plan in late summer/early fall 2021 and faced with variants of concern starting later in the fall, a decision at the November 2, 2021 Council meeting to move the in-person date back further with the following motion:

THAT the Advisory Committees continue to meet electronically on the Microsoft Teams meeting platform until June 30, 2022 when their meetings can once again be held fully in-person only on an alternating basis in Council Chambers;

AND THAT the June 30, 2022 end date for Advisory Committee electronic meetings be re-evaluated in the spring of 2022. (C-117-21)

This report is the spring 2022 re-evaluation contemplated in Council’s C-117-21 motion.

DISCUSSION:

Advisory Committees have been meeting electronically through the Microsoft Teams Meetings platform since September 2020. With this platform, the public can phone in and listen to the proceedings while Advisory Committee members can either participate by telephone or join the meeting on a computer with both their image and sound.

The Advisory Committee procedures set out that the committees meet simultaneously on the fourth Tuesday of the following months: January, March, May, September, and November. Currently the Community Development Advisory Committee has ten members and the Parks, Recreation, and Environment Advisory Committee has six. Both groups have two Council liaisons and two assigned staff members. Council Chambers is the only room at Town Hall large enough to accommodate either of these groups at full attendance.

Despite recent changes to pandemic protocols, the COVID-19 pandemic is not over, physical distancing is desirable, variants of concern are still present, and a sixth wave is either anticipated or already underway. Therefore, staff recommend that the Advisory Committees continue to meet electronically until at least the end of 2022 (three regular meetings) through the Microsoft Teams Meetings platform.

This approach ensures that attendance of Advisory Committee members, Council liaisons, required staff and members of the public can be adequately facilitated and that the meetings continue to have openness, transparency, accessibility, and accountability. It is anticipated that over the coming months, as more research is done, there will be additional tools that can be used to protect one’s health in the face of COVID-19 while at the same time allowing for higher levels of in-person interaction with others.

In the interim, it is proposed that the Advisory Committee volunteers be asked for input through a brief questionnaire that explores their perspective on virtual meetings and various ideas for in-person meeting formats (for example, it may be that meetings continue to be held at the same time – which would accommodate joint meetings – but that there is an alternating use of the Council Chambers such that one group meets virtually, while one is in-person in Council Chambers).

The December 31, 2022 date can be re-evaluated in the fall, taking into consideration the feedback received from the above-described questionnaire.