Langley City councillors held their first in-person meeting in a year on Monday, Oct. 4.
Mayor Val van den Broek said it felt “very different” after months of virtual meetings via videoconferencing.
“We were a little rusty, not going to lie,” van den Broek laughed.
Emergency provincial regulations that allowed for virtual municipal meetings expired on Friday, Sept. 29.
Transparent protective plastic barriers will remain in place, and masks will be required.
It has been a year since council last held an in-person meeting, in September 2020, and the last time it did not go well, with councillors reporting difficulty hearing each other over the dividers.
Since then, the audio system has been upgraded and it appeared to do the trick.
“What a difference technology makes,” van den Broek remarked.
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City council also gave preliminary approval to a bylaw that will make it easier to switch to virtual meetings when required.
“We have to have that flexibility,” van den Broek told the Langley Advance Times.
“COVID isn’t over yet.”
The bylaw will come back to council for final approval Oct. 18.
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Langley Township council has already resumed in-person meetings, with some members of council attending by video link.
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