Sarnia council will consider spending up to $50,000 on chamber upgrades Monday, so it can meet during the pandemic in person.
Councillors have been attending virtual meetings from home, or logging on from a meeting room in city hall, because of audio and video limitations in council chambers.
Staff are recommending council either spend up to $50,000 to upgrade the technology and software in council chambers or maintain the current electronic hybrid meeting format.
Mayor Mike Bradley said either way, public participation would still be required virtually.
"Staff can not recommend a full return to council chambers for business as usual, due to the provincial recommendations associated with physical distancing, as well as indoor gathering limits," said Bradley. "My hope would be, like many of the other organizations that I'm involved with, is that at least until the end of this year we try to continue to work through the hybrid method, which does have its deficiencies, but it also has its strengths. That way we can protect our staff, we can protect the public, as we see where we are in a couple of months on COVID."
Bradley said city hall is closed on the second and third floor currently, and has access limited on the first floor.
"The hope is that we can get through this next couple of months, and then understand how we can return to normal and how much that would cost."
