LEWES, Del. - City of Lewes will resume some in-person meetings beginning July 1st. The return to in-person meetings will be split up into three phases. Phase 1 will take place in the City Hall Council Chambers and on Zoom.
"The first phase is using council chambers where we can accommodate 18 members of the public ... and we talked about putting a TV in the lobby and having an overflow area where we could stream it into the lobby, we would be able to accommodate 12 people with 3 foot distancing,” said City Manager, Ann Marie Townshend.
People who attend will be required to wear masks, and members of the commission who are not vaccinated will be asked to do the same.
In Phase 2, once live streaming equipment is installed, most meetings will be held in the Rollins Center which can hold a larger group of people.
"I found out on Thursday the equipment will be in and installed in the first week in July in the Rollins Center so we might actually move directly to phase two,” said Townshend.
In this phase, the city may hold smaller meetings in the council chambers where there are not as many members of the public allowed in.
"Getting back to in person meetings will be very beneficial for the public, I think people have missed the opportunity to come to a meeting and speak directly,” said Lewes Mayor Ted Becker.
In Phase 3, meetings will continue in the Rollins Center but new restrooms will be built.
A paved walkway in between the building and the fire lane will become the new restrooms.
The city hopes the restrooms will be completed by October or November. Then, people will no longer have access to the Lewes Historical Society Museum restrooms.
"We determined the restrooms in the museum are not handicap accessible, but it also requires that somebody be on staff at the museum when we are having meetings, so when we have a meeting that goes until 10 o’clock at night, the museum staff has to be there,” said Townshend.
Live streaming will continue to be available, even when COVID restrictions end.