Adjusting to the new normal: Local municipal governments make changes due to COVID

GALENA–Area municipal leaders are finding life in local government much different than it was seven weeks ago. Area governments have had to close off access to their buildings from the public, conduct meetings virtually and adjust plans for 2020.

 

Closing buildings

“We have approached it with putting the health and safety of our employees first and trying to have a continuity in the delivery of service,” said Mark Moran, Galena city administrator.

The city of Galena, along with other municipal governments, has closed buildings to the general public. For Galena, this list includes public restrooms and playgrounds.

“The new normal is that no one from the public can enter city hall,” said Loras Herrig, East Dubuque city administrator. “City hall is locked down; however, we are finding that we have more to do now. People are looking to our employees for info.”

Herrig said the call volume has increased at both city hall and at the police department for people in the city searching for information and to find out what is acceptable under the stay-at-home order.

“City hall has become the information center for the city,” said Herrig. “It has, though, adversely impacted public input and discussions with the council. We can still call and email, but that face-to-face interaction isn’t there.”

“The biggest change for us is that our buildings are closed to the public and not having face-to-face interaction with people coming in or with people paying their bills,” said Sally Bauer, Hazel Green village clerk. “More people are reaching out to us with phone calls and emails.”

The Hazel Green library, located at village hall, has opened for curbside pick-up on Tuesdays and Fridays.

“City employees are still working,” said Bauer.

Another struggle that Hazel Green is facing is an upcoming election in August and how the city staff will manage the safety of voters.

“We are waiting to see what is coming up and see what that brings,” said Bauer. “We have had a difficulty in finding cleaning supplies, too, even through our providers and on their sites as well.”

The village of Elizabeth has four full-time staff members and all four are still working.

Village hall in Elizabeth has closed its doors to the pubic.

In Galena, Moran said city employees working in different buildings are not entering other city-operated buildings.

Staffing is one of a few changes the city of Galena is making as a result of COVID-19.

“We are trying to prevent or minimize the spreading of the virus, which could lead to a reduction in service,” said Moran. “Employees have access to the server and desktop applications, so they can work from home as if they were at their office.”

Some city hall staff members are working from home while some have staggered shifts. Galena has made preparations for the future opening of their public facilities and has purchased hand sanitizer stations for all of their buildings.

“We are also in the process of moving forward with Plexiglas barriers at our reception desks,” said Moran. “We hope to have them in place before we open.”

Another change the city of Galena will make as a result of the pandemic is the addition of a permanent utility drop off box near the front door of city hall.

“Overall we have been able to effectively do our jobs,” said Moran.

 

Maintenance changes

The maintenance plans for many cities have changed. Some have scaled back on the scope of many of their services.

Elizabeth at first alternated shifts for the two full-time public works employees; however, they are now allowing the employees to work together while doing their best to practice social distancing.

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“We just aren’t going to do anything new this year, unless we have dedicated money set aside for it,” said Mike Dittmar, Elizabeth village president. “Our guys will still do regular maintenance. The sewer is still running and the water is still running.”

Hazel Green is moving forward with many street projects that were planned, while practicing social distancing.

The village is limiting their public works staff to one person per truck to help the staff adhere to social distancing guidelines.

Galena has had its public works department split shifts while still keeping everyone on-call. They have recently called everyone back on board with grass cutting duties picking up.

Moran said maintenance projects in Galena will be tabled except for projects that are grant funded. He said the city will need to look at projects as essential and non-essential in upcoming decisions.

“Projects that have large grant components, such as the crosswalks, the east side project and Rec Park parking are grant funded, and they will continue,” said Moran. “When you see city construction in the coming weeks, it is likely grant funded.”

East Dubuque is also keeping the public works staff on the payroll as maintenance projects still need to be completed.

“Water mains still need fixed and grass still needs mowing,” said Herrig.

 

Meeting virtually

Municipalities across the area have adapted to life in a virtual world, which has extended to public meetings. Instead of having meetings face-to-face, meetings have now gone virtual with Zoom being a preferred application for many governments.

“We used to have two committee meetings a month, but we have stopped having those until this is over,” said Dittmar, who initially used Google Hangouts but has switched to Zoom due to limitations with the first application.

Galena was prepared for the change as the city council members are all supplied with iPads so they already had technology to work with and to utilize for the meetings.

“The mayor and council have adapted quickly,” said Moran. “It is more complicated than a face-to-face meeting, but it does work. It wouldn’t have worked without the easing of Open Meetings Act restrictions.

East Dubuque held its first virtual meeting on Monday, April 27, and Herrig admits it was a complicated process. He jokingly admitted that he was fired as the Zoom coordinator for the council meetings and has delegated that task to another city official.

The Monday meeting had 26 people participating at once with a total of 60 different connections made over the course of the meeting.

“We did everything we could to reach out to tell people how to connect,” said Herrig. “The public and city will have to get better with protocol.”

Herrig believes that Zoom could be a great tool for the future now that people are using it and getting used to the system.

“People have to learn the new way of protocol,” said Herrig. “It takes more control on Zoom. We can’t talk over each other on there; that makes it unworkable.”

Herrig said he still prefers the in-person meetings over the online meeting.

“I am more of a visual person,” said Herrig. “I look forward to the day when everyone can sit together again.”

“Zoom meetings are interesting,” said Bauer. “We are still able to communicate and run the government, but it is just different.”

Hazel Green has effectively used Zoom for all of its meetings and been able to keep a regular committee schedule in the process. Bauer said one challenge is the range of internet capabilities among board members.

“I would rather go back to face-to face meetings,” said Bauer. “It is a lot easier to discuss when you are able to read others’ facial expressions and able to see what the other person is thinking.”

Every entity is being forced to deal with a new, unexpected normal. One that hasn’t been prepared for as it hasn’t occurred in the lifetime of those who are leading the way.

“Never in my life would I think to see something like this coming,” said Herrig. “Everyone is just trying to figure out when this is going to get better and figure out the new normal.”