City Buildings Closed To The Public For 6 WeeksWalking into the city council chambers at Warsaw City Hall Monday night, it was clear the city was going to follow the COVID-19 pandemic guidelines.
Councilmen and their chairs were spread out across the room – about 6 feet apart – and Mayor Joe Thallemer presented to them restrictions the city was going to put on its departments and buildings.
The preliminary restrictions on city business is effective Wednesday through April 29. “It seems like this situation changes hourly, and as things continue to occur, we may need to adjust these provisions,” Thallemer said.
He pointed out that the federal government is working to try and create some provisions to soften the blow for “a lot of our workers and families,” and Warsaw’s human resource director, Jennifer Whitaker, is “looking hard at the human resource component of this and what we may or may not be allowed to do, if the emergency declaration gives us a little bit of extra privilege, if you will, to take care of our employees.”
Thallemer said after the initial six weeks of the restrictions, they will be re-evaluated based on recommendations by public health officials. By starting them Wednesday, he said it will give the city a chance to create signage and send out information on the policies.
The first restriction is that all city buildings will be closed to the public.
City employees will continue to observe good hygiene and social isolation or separation as they continue to conduct city business.
Unless they can’t meet by phone or virtual methods, essential meetings may be conducted with less than 10 individuals if necessary. Non-essential meetings may be conducted only by phone or virtual methods.
Sewer bills can be mailed, paid online or put in the drop box in front of city hall on Buffalo Street. Clerk-Treasurer Lynne Christiansen added there’s a fee with paying by credit card that the credit card company charges. Payments also can be dropped off at Mutual Bank as long as it’s the correct amount; or residents can sign up for autopay. If payment is made by mail, she said cash should not be sent.
Thallemer continued with the restrictions, saying the city instituted a ban on non-essential travel for the next six weeks.
The departments will develop COVID-19 emergency procedures.
All park and recreational activities through April 29 are cancelled, as are all facility rentals.
Building permits can be applied for online. If residents have building and planning questions, Thallemer said they’d like them to use the internet or telephone to request that information.
On human resources for the city, Thallemer said, “What we’re facing could be unprecedented as far as employees needing time off, with schools being out, not having the childcare they need. We know there’s going to be challenges and we want to respond to that with our employees. Those policies are being developed. We don’t have the answers now.” City officials will sit through a webinar with the Association of Indiana Municipalities (AIM) today to discuss those issues.
Whitaker also has been in contact with the city’s employment attorney. She said an emergency Family Medical Leave Act amendment is being considered by the federal government to address the pay of the public sector and allowing employees time off for childcare because of schools closed. She said the city currently has employees asking for time off for their children. “We really need to work with them and kind of shove aside our attendance policies to allow these employees the care they need to be giving,” she said. The amendment has passed the U.S. House, and Whitaker said hopefully in the next few days, “we’ll have a really good solid foundation for us to build off of, too. We’re not going to be rebuilding the wheel.”
Thallemer said much of the city’s direction will come from the policymakers at the federal and state level. He added the Indiana State Board of Accounts doesn’t plan to allow much leeway when it comes to audits in 2021 for this year, so the city has to be careful with what it does when enacting new policies.
Moving on to more restrictions, Thallemer said public meeting schedules will be limited to only those that are time sensitive or have essential agenda requirements. He said there’s a good chance many city meetings will be postponed or cancelled, though the Board of Works might be an exception.
The Warsaw Police Department has a public area for people to come in for complaints or get reports. No one will be allowed into the WPD building, but it does have a small vestibule and intercom for the public’s use.
Oakwood Cemetery will take requests via phone and electronic means. All street department requests will need to be made by phone. Emergency responders are reviewing their policies and procedures in wake of the virus.
Thallemer repeated that all city buildings will be closed to the public, and these include city hall, all street department buildings, the airport terminal building (except to passengers and crews of incoming and outgoing flights), Oakwood Cemetery, all three Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory stations, all police department buildings, all wastewater utility buildings and all Warsaw parks facilities (except the campground because the campers and RVs are independent and isolated).
He said city employees will continue to work in its facilities for the time being and conduct city business by phone or electronic means.
There may be tweaks to the rules, but Thallemer said, “I think we’re in a pretty tight situation as far as needing to take the bull by the horns. We’ve got an opportunity with this pandemic being relatively new in our country that we do have a chance to get ahead of it, but we can’t hesitate.”
Thallemer said it’s important that everyone does their part.
Councilman Mike Klondaris asked the mayor for information to pass on to small business owners, like himself. He and his sister own Cox Studios on Market Street.
Thallemer said there’s lots of restrictions going on, and the important thing for businesses is to protect their employees and those folks coming in to the businesses.
He said restaurants and bars being closed by the state starting today will be a “very difficult” situation, though they can still offer carry-out and drive-thru.
“Businesses will probably have to look at how they staff, they will probably have to look at staggering staff members, maybe cutting back schedules,” Thallemer said. “I think the demand for services and goods probably will dictate how small businesses react and what types of measures they institute.”
Cindy Dobbins, councilwoman, said the Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce is encouraging people to call small businesses and purchase gift cards when they need a gift for someone, which will help keep the businesses going. She said some downtown restaurants will be offering curbside or delivery services, and retail boutiques may follow suit.
Later in the meeting, Thallemer read an email from Kip Tom, U.N. ambassador in Rome, who is from Kosciusko County.
The email letter stated, “Joe, as a civic leader, take the COVID-19 threat seriously. We’ve been on lockdown for a week and numbers of infected and death losses are climbing. The city of Rome streets are empty, sidewalks bare. Civilians, stores, restaurants, many small businesses closed. Be bold and deal with this early and aggressively. You are not immune.”
Thallemer said the letter summed up how many feel. “We can’t hesitate. And certainly our action tonight started that.”
