Greensburg to resume in-person meetings

For the first time in months, the City of Greensburg is set to resume in-person meetings.

During a council meeting this week, members unanimously voted to return to in-person meetings for city council, planning commission, zoning hearing board and all other official meetings. Meetings for the past several months have been held via Zoom, which were then streamed on the city’s Facebook page.

However, relaxed mitigation orders that increase occupancy limits are allowing the city to resume more normal operations. Earlier this month, Gov. Tom Wolf increased capacity limits to 25% for indoor events, including meetings, regardless of venue size.

“Due to a reduction in mitigation measures to address the covid-19 pandemic, the city’s occupancy limits will be increased sufficiently to hold in-person meetings in council chambers,” Mayor Robert Bell said during Monday’s meeting.

Public meetings held at city hall will be capped at 23 people. Social distancing measures will be in place and face masks are required.

In-person meetings will resume immediately, starting with the April 21 zoning hearing board meeting and the April 28 planning commission meeting, according to city Administrator Kelsye Hantz. City council will resume in-person meetings next month.

Hantz noted city officials are looking into cost-effective solutions to continue streaming meetings on Facebook, however, a timeline for when that could begin was not available.

“It is definitely a want of Mayor and Council,” Hantz said via email. “They really enjoyed being able to engage with more members of the community by having the meetings streamed.”