PORT HAWKESBURY: Town council decided to start meeting in-person, with virtual options, and approved a policy mandating that all employees receive two COVID-19 vaccinations.
During the regular monthly meeting of Port Hawkesbury Town Council on Nov. 2, CAO Terry Doyle said there was consensus from last month’s committee of the whole to discuss whether council wants to return to in-person meetings, continue with virtual meetings, or use a combination of both for public meetings, committee of the whole and town advisory committees.
Town staff surveyed surrounding municipalities, Doyle noted.
“All of our neighbours, within the Strait area are conducting their meetings in-person and there are three of those municipalities that are doing both the hybrid model of in-person and virtual, and that’s Guysborough County, the Municipality of the County of Antigonish, and the Town of Mulgrave,” he told council.
Mayor Brenda Chisholm-Beaton said there seems to be support on council for a mixed model, a motion idea which received unanimous approval. She said the next meeting of council will be held in-person, with an option for virtual attendance for “anyone who wished to participate.”
“It’s been an ongoing topic that we’ve kept on our radar,” she stated. “I know that we did ask a little bit about what our neighbours may have been doing, but I think there was some consensus at committee of the whole that were we to go back to in-person, we should still include a virtual option.”
After it was presented in September and October, town council also unanimously approved a new town policy requiring that all town employees be fully vaccinated by Dec. 31.
“The Town of Port Hawkesbury requires all employees to be fully vaccinated, to have both injections of one of the recognized vaccines,” Doyle said reading from the policy. “The formalization gives time for those, who require it, to be able to get their vaccination.”
After a formal review Doyle confirmed full vaccine compliance by staff.
“All employees, including casual employees, are fully vaccinated, and that’s been recorded,” the CAO stated.
As for compliance, the CAO said the policy allows the town to either request testing, or place an employee on an unpaid leave of absence, if they do not get inoculated.
Doyle said the policy was drafted by a lawyer with human resource experience, and has been adopted by other municipalities.