East Point to reopen facilities starting June 1
You’ll need to call ahead and wear a face mask when visiting city buildings
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East Point will begin a staggered reopening of city buildings on June 1 with the public allowed in two weeks later. But operations will be anything but a return to pre-pandemic normal.
City employees will work staggered shifts and the public will be allowed inside by appointment only. Both will be ordered to wear face coverings and undergo temperature checks.
It’s an effort by city officials to balance reopening operations while coronavirus cases continue to increase.
“The numbers in Georgia have not been going down. We are not at the apex where we can see where the curve is flattening in the state of Georgia or Fulton County,” City Manager Frederick Gardiner said.
“As we get the data every day, those numbers continue to rise, which is problematic,” Gardiner said.
But as businesses slowly reopen and coronavirus restrictions end, East Point has been preparing to reopen City Hall, public buildings and its parks, Gardiner said Monday as he briefed city councilmembers. The city closed its buildings and sent large numbers of employees home to telework on March 16.
The city initially considered reopening when Gov. Brian Kemp ended the state’s shelter-in-place order ended. But that took place April 30, a move city leaders dismissed as “aboslutely crazy.”
So a reopening was pushed to June 1 – but even then, only half of the city’s employees will return to their buildings. The public won’t be allowed inside until June 15.
“Until we get a good handle on who is and who is not [infected with COVID-19], I don’t want to put all of our staff – and yourselves as you traverse City Hall – in any potential danger of becoming infected,” Gardiner told city councilmembers.
By appointment only, wear a mask
Appointments will be required for the public to enter City Hall and other buildings. And when someone arrives for their appointment, they will be required to wear a mask. The city will also check their temperature if they can legally do so, Gardiner (photo) said.
What the public will find inside are employees wearing personal protective gear, reduced staffing, waiting areas with only four or five people and buildings sanitized three times a day and cleaned overnight, city officials said.
“Not all of our building inspectors will be in the building and not all of our planners will be in the building at any one time. Just in case we do have an incident, we can have folks who are still capable of working,” Gardiner said.
City parks will also reopen June 1 but playground equipment and basketball courts will remain closed. The Jefferson Park Recreation Center will remain shuttered.
“If you want to go for a walk, you can. But the use of the basketball courts and such will stay closed,” Gardiner said.
Gardiner warned that staffing levels and access to buildings enjoyed before the coronavirus pandemic won’t happen anytime soon.
“The data has not provided us the level of comfort to say there’s a date that is certain for us to come wide open for the public,” Gardiner said.
“There are still a lot of unknowns out there as it relates to who is positive, who is asymptomatic and realizing those folks can and continue to spread the COVID virus to others. That has played a huge role in our decision,” he added.
Read more coverage of how the coronavirus pandemic is impacting East Point.