With COVID-19 and social distancing on the top of everyone’s mind, it’s easy to forgive West Nipissing council for being cancelled for the time being.
“Right now, the priority is dealing with the coronavirus and social distancing and self-isolating,” said Mayor Joanne Savage. “We want to be a part of that and make sure that we are in a position to react to everything that needs to be done.”
“As far as council and committee meetings, everything has been cancelled,” she continued. “I have been in dialogue with other municipalities and mayors from the East-Sudbury region, everyone has cancelled our meetings.”
According to the Mayor, there is no timeline as to when they will get back in session, but council will convene over emergency situations.
“For the time being, if there is anything of an urgent matter, we’ve made the decision as council to meet electronically with the participation of staff to make sure the information is recorded,” Savage explained.
According to Savage, an example of that came on Monday when council met to make a decision on pushing back the interim tax bill due dates to late April and mid-May.
“That was done electronically and recorded electronically and staff has that information as well,” she said.
“Depending on where this goes with COVID-19, this will determine when we re-convene to regular business,” Savage added.