The Aberdeen City Council will soon make its first step toward a return to normalcy after almost two full years of dealing with COVID-19 restrictions that made the council’s meetings happen in a remote setting.

While the City Council will not revert to full, in-person meetings, it will instead turn to hybrid meetings in March.

The plan for now, according to Aberdeen Mayor Pete Schave, is to go to “hybrid” City Council meetings starting Wednesday, March 9. The council next meets on Wednesday, Feb. 23.

Schave and the City Council discussed the near-future return of meeting, at least in part, in-person at their last meeting, Feb. 9. It was at that meeting that Schave, in his mayor’s report, notified the council about a decrease in COVID-19 numbers in the area.

“The last COVID-19 report I got (shows) the numbers are dropping,” he said. “Every week, I meet with the county health department to see where we’re at with all this.”

Schave, who was wearing a mask on Feb. 15, when he spoke to The Daily World, said he and any council members, city staff, as well as any members of the public who wish to attend, must wear a mask.

The hybrid meetings are being made possible by the city’s purchase of a 70-inch TV, a few remote-controlled cameras — so the council members can tune in via Zoom and vice versa — plus installation of the technology. Schave said the new technology, which is there to make the meetings possible, cost the city roughly $8,000.

The cameras will provide a complete view of the council chambers, which houses the podium that sits on the side of the council members’ chairs and desks, to the public’s seating section, and the council members themselves.

Schave said he thought Aberdeen’s City Council had been meeting remotely on Zoom since April 2020.

The change from remote to hybrid council meetings should make both Aberdeen residents and the council members happy. Schave said there were a lot of residents who wanted the council to switch from remote meetings to hybrid meetings.

There’s a question about the number of members of the public can attend, however.

“We’re reviewing the latest rules,” Schave said. “I understand there (are) some new rules involving hybrid meetings. I don’t know how many we can actually have in here, but we’re gonna readjust the chairs as necessary to meet whatever the (social) distancing requirements still are.”

The City Council chambers have a maximum capacity of 130, according to the red sign just inside the meeting space. It seems fewer people will be allowed. But, fortunately for Schave, it looks as if he and council can return to meeting in-person, if they choose. Schave said he isn’t forcing anyone and that they have a choice to continue learning remotely if they wish.

“We’re gonna make the best of it,” he said about switching from remote meetings to hybrid meetings. “We’re gonna try to comply with the rules. Try to get back to live meetings. But there are still some requirements we’ll have to meet.”