Vernon public hearing cancelled, future council meetings postponed

The City of Vernon postponed its public hearing slated for the evening of March 23.

The public hearing, which was scheduled for 5:30 p.m., was to touch on the Official Community Plan boundary extensions that would annex BX Elementary School to allow for the connection to the city’s sanitary sewer system.

Coun. Kelly Fehr was unable to attend and therefore quorum couldn’t be met as colleague Coun. Brian Quiring declared a conflict of interest. As a result, the meeting had to be cancelled and rescheduled to a future date, which will be determined later.

The last regular council meeting amid the COVID-19 pandemic was held Monday, March 23, with only four members of council in attendance. Councillors Akbul Mund, Kari Gares, Quiring and Mayor Victor Cumming were present.

Only six chairs were available in the public gallery to ensure social distancing regulations set out by the province were adhered to.

All future meetings have been postponed.

Monday’s scheduled meeting went ahead as a meeting of council was required by legislation in order to push pause to future dates.

Meetings will be called back a future time, administration said, noting staff are investigating opportunities to hold them remotely.

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