Antigonish Town Council Meeting May 18, 2021; screengrab from Zoom
COVID-19 restrictions have led to changes in the Town of Antigonish, the same as every municipality in the province.
The latest province-wide shutdown was announced April 27, with restrictions coming into effect the next day.
After May’s regular town council meeting Monday night, Laurie Boucher, Antigonish’s mayor, said everyone is doing what they’re supposed to be doing.
“Town hall is closed to the public, but we do have our public works and facilities still out and about,” she said. “There are restrictions put in place.”
Boucher said town employees are masked when they’re travelling in the same vehicle or when they’re in town hall, while the number of employees onsite at any given time is kept to a minimum.
She said it was more of a challenge getting set up to work from home when the pandemic arrived in March 2020, but things have gone more smoothly this time around.
“Now that we know more about the virus and how it works, this shutdown has been a little bit easier,” she said. “The infrastructure is already put in place to allow people to work from home.”
Boucher said town officials are grateful for how their employees have adapted.
She said they’re happy with how things have gone so far.
“We understand that it is a bit of a challenge for our staff,” she said. “We really appreciate what they’re doing for us to make sure that the town is operating at full capacity.”
Boucher said the latest shutdown has impacted implementation of their new budget.
She said she can’t say when it could be presented, or what will happen with the town’s residential and commercial tax rates.
