Credit Elyssa Loughlin / KYUK
The July 13 Bethel City Council meeting will be its first meeting open to the public in nearly one year. And because Bethel City Hall is under construction, the meeting will be held in the Orutsararmiut Native Council multipurpose building at 6:30 p.m. Anyone attending in person, including council members, is required to wear a mask, regardless of vaccination status. Members of the public are also asked to keep 6 feet of distance from one another.
During the meeting, the council will vote on another extension of the city’s COVID-19 mask mandate. The mandate is up for extension every two months. Per the mandate, masks are required in Bethel for unvaccinated people in most public indoor locations. However, under federal law, masks are still required for everyone, regardless of vaccination status, at health care facilities and on public transportation, like planes and city buses. The City of Bethel has also mandated that masks be worn during its public meetings, and by its employees in public-facing work environments.