The signs of a return to pre-pandemic normalcy are all around in the nearly mask-free shoppers and diners, but the return to business as usual can also be seen in how municipal and other boards are convening meetings that for nearly the entirety of the COVID-19 pandemic were held remotely or in concert with limited capacity for the public.

“We are back to normal,” Long Beach Township Commissioner Joseph Lattanzi declared at a recent in-person-only municipal meeting there, just days after Gov.