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Council moves meetings to Chapel Gallery

North Battleford council meetings have officially made their move to the Chapel Gallery, for at least the time being. Monday was the first meeting for council from Chapel Gallery, which had closed to the public during the pandemic.
This is the Zoom screenshot of Monday’s council meeting, which included a live meeting from Chapel G
This is the Zoom screenshot of Monday’s council meeting, which included a live meeting from Chapel Gallery as well as other council members participating virtually. Screenshot by John Cairns

North Battleford council meetings have officially made their move to the Chapel Gallery, for at least the time being.

Monday was the first meeting for council from Chapel Gallery, which had closed to the public during the pandemic. It was also the first live meeting for council since the pandemic began.

Council had been doing their meetings virtually on the Zoom platform since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March. The decision to resume live meetings at the Chapel Gallery had been made weeks earlier during the previous term, with the venue chosen primarily because it could offer more space than council chambers at City Hall. 

Despite a recent jump in COVID-19 cases to upwards of 100 active cases in the Battlefords as of Tuesday, the move to Chapel Gallery did proceed as scheduled. But the virtual elements of the meeting remained, with several councillors and administration officials participating as usual using ZOOM. 

The new mayor, David Gillan, and a small group of three councillors and officials were on hand live at Chapel Gallery Monday. 

Councillor Len Taylor noted the move in his remarks at council. 

“I consider this a very temporary circumstance,” said Taylor. “I think going forward, should we want to make any decisions with regard to the Chapel Gallery, we make sure we consult widely and ensure that we’ve got all our information regarding meetings, galleries and that sort of thing before any other decisions are made.”

Taylor also noted that with COVID-19 numbers getting worse “we may take some additional steps going forward with COVID-19 numbers involving this space as well.”