CHATHAM – With declining COVID cases and relaxing safety mandates across the nation, local towns are faced with the decision on when and how they return to in-person for municipal business.
Several towns, including Wellfleet and Chatham’s select boards, have opted for a hybrid approach in the coming weeks, with board members meeting mostly in-person but still allowing staff and residents to attend remotely.
“With a hybrid meeting, the public can attend in person if they want to, but they would also have the option to log in through [Microsoft] Teams or call in through the phone,” said town Natural Resources Director Dr. Robert Duncanson.
Chatham’s Board of Health members also needed to wrestle with the decision at their most recent meeting, with several including member Richard Edwards and Carol Boyce supporting a move towards hybrid.
Vice Chairman Noble Hansen also expressed his desire to see a return of some in-person functionality to meetings.
No formal vote is required to shift the way meetings are presented, but the board was unanimous in its decision to shift away from the remote-only options that have dominated municipal business for the past several months amid COVID.
The hybrid meetings could begin as soon as next week.
“Let’s go one step at a time, if I can weigh in, and authorize future meetings to be hybrid with the hope that at some point thereafter we can go to complete in-person down the road,” said Chair John Beckley.
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