BRATTLEBORO — When the Brattleboro Selectboard decided to hold an online meeting Tuesday to consider how to gradually return from pandemic guidelines to in-person gatherings, it didn’t realize the state would, in an instant, make the whole point moot.

“This discussion will be substantially quicker and easier,” Town Manager Peter Elwell said at the start. “The state of emergency declared by the governor last year expires at midnight.”

As a result, Vermont municipal boards — which were given the latitude to plug into video conferencing during COVID-19 — must, as of Wednesday, return to publicly accessible physical meeting locations.

“There are other meetings here as well as across the state where the warning said it was going to be online, but now have to make the adjustments necessary immediately,” Elwell said. “It will be a little bumpy. Give us a little time to get our legs under us.”

Gov. Phil Scott declared a state of emergency in March 2020 that spurred temporary legislative measures allowing remote meetings and electronic posting of notices.

But on Monday, Vermont announced it had become the first state to partially vaccinate at least 80 percent of its eligible population, and on Tuesday Scott lifted all remaining pandemic restrictions — ending the online allowance for public meetings.

“This means a physical meeting location for public participation must be provided,” the Secretary of State’s office said in a memorandum.

Municipal boards can still offer a virtual option, but only if at least one member of the public body, staff member, or designee is present at the physical meeting location.

“We urge public bodies to find means to continue including the voices of members of the public who have limitations that may preclude physical attendance,” the Secretary of State’s office’s memo said. “As we transition together to the new ‘new normal,’ we hope to hang on to the many successes of the past 15 months, even as we look forward to revisiting our old ways.”

In Brattleboro’s case, that means the selectboard will return to its Municipal Center meeting room while offering the public the ability to join through Zoom and community access television.

“I think it’s critical to have the hybrid moving forward,” selectboard member Ian Goodnow said. “We’ve seen the opportunity for people to participate in their local government in a way that we haven’t before.”

Board colleague Tim Wessel concurred with one caveat: “I just have to go out and buy some pants.”