Despite a handful of new COVID-19 cases, the Fulton City Council voted Tuesday to authorize a resolution ending the city's state of emergency.
Once signed by Mayor Lowe Cannell, Resolution 3374 will lift the state of emergency declared March 24, though the special measures put in place by the emergency declaration won't officially end until June 15.
"June 15 coincides with the expiration of the state declaration of emergency," Director of Administration Bill Johnson explained.
Measures put in place by the March 24 declaration included:
The closure of all city-owned buildings and facilities to the public;
The postponement of license and permit deadlines;
The waiving of penalties for unpaid utility accounts and penalties related to license and permit renewals;
The suspension of utility shut-offs;
The alteration of work schedules for city staff.
Some of those measures had already been partially lifted - Fulton City Hall reopened in early May, and some city employees have already returned to their normal schedules. Early in the pandemic, some Fulton employees worked from home while others came into the office on a rotating basis. Other Fulton departments will remain on the COVID-19-influenced schedules for a while.
"I think (Fulton Police Chief) Steve (Myers) plans on staying on the schedule for a while; I think (Fulton Fire Chief) Kevin (Coffelt) plans on staying on this schedule 'til the end of June," Johnson said. "That's an administrative decision."
Johnson said the return to regular schedules might be reconsidered if cases boom.
"If it continues with the path we're on now and we get a little bit here and a little bit there, I see it going back," he said. "If it blows up, and I don't know what the definition of blowing up is, but we'll all know if it happens we may discuss with them the option of staying with the schedule or going back to the other one."
The Callaway County Health Department reported four new cases of the disease over the holiday weekend, bringing the county's total reported cases to 26.
Utility disconnections
Utility penalties will be assessed starting June 15, but shut-offs won't resume until June 25. Ads about utility disconnections and penalties resuming are appearing in the newspaper, on social media and in the city's newsletter, Cannell said. Additionally, anyone who hasn't paid their bills by June 15 will receive a notice detailing the past-due balance and penalty.
"There will be a note that says 'Please, contact city hall if you need to make arrangements to pay your bill, prior to shut-off day,'" said Kathy Holschlag, the city's chief financial officer. "We can work with those people, offer them a contract, depending on the amount of their past-due balance, how much they can pay a month. These are conversations we need to have one by one."
Holschlag said the amount of time given to repay delinquent accounts will vary based on the amount owed and other variables.
"It is not our goal to shut them off; it is our goal to work with them and enable them to get caught up and stay current," Johnson said.
As of mid-May, Holschlag said nearly 400 accounts were far enough behind to be subject to disconnection, and the city was nearly $150,000 behind in collections. More recent numbers weren't available Wednesday. In an average month, 50 accounts are shut off due to nonpayment of around $22,000 in total.