East Point scales back services, closes buildings over coronavirus
City scales back operations, cancels events and limits Municipal Court proceedings.
Staring down a coronavirus pandemic, East Point has closed public buildings to the public, canceled events, sent some employees home to telework and suspended shutting off utility services for overdue bills.
City Manager Frederick Gardiner (photo) briefed the City Council on Monday, updating them on the impact the pandemic is having on city operations.
“We are minimizing our risk to keep city operations going as best we can,” Gardiner told the council.
The city started with boosting public awareness about prevention methods through its online and social platforms. But city officials quickly shifted as coronavirus cases surfaced in metro Atlanta to closing facilities to the public and scaling back operations.
Gardiner said City Hall staffing has dropped from about 60 people to 12.
“We are now at a reduced scale at operations,” he said. “We’re operating at pretty much what it will take to keep the departments moving.”
On Monday, the city closed City Hall, City Annex and Customer Care to the public. The city has also increased cleanings in its facilities, Gardiner said.
“We’ve actually had a robust cleaning this weekend in [City Hall], Customer Care and the rec center,” he said.
The city’s response to the coronavirus pandemic also includes:
Limiting payments at Customer Care to the drive-through, dropbox, phone, mail and online. “Money is still coming into the city. We are just not accepting people face to face,” Gardiner said.
Curtailing Municipal Court operations by delaying non-essential court cases for 60 days and pushing trials until mid-June. The court also extended its ticket amnesty to May and temporarily eliminated failure to appear fines.
Suspending utility service disconnection for nonpayment.
Postponing public meetings, including a Community Zoning Information Meeting on March 17, a Public Safety Town Hall on March 18, a town hall on the proposed new recreation center on March 19 and 26, and the launch of the Healthy Point 90-day Health Initiative. The East Point Famers Market has been canceled.
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