Sean C. Morgan
The Sweet Home City Council on Thursday, March 19, declared a state of emergency in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and approved a plan to waive fees for shutting off and starting water service for businesses that are closed and to negotiate arrangements with residents who may have difficulty paying their utility bills.
Under the policy, Community and Economic Development Director Blair Larsen said, “for the duration of this emergency, the city will not be shutting water off.”
The policy is based on compassion, Larsen said, and also is necessary for hygiene purposes to help contain the COVID-19 coronavirus.
Noting that the United States, the State of Oregon and Linn County have all declared a public emergency for the novel coronavirus which causes COVID-19, Mayor Greg Mahler proclaimed, “whereas the health, safety and welfare of Sweet Home residents, businesses, visitors and staff is of utmost importance to the city and additional future measures may be needed to protect the community, I do hereby proclaim with City Council authorization, a state of emergency in the City of Sweet Home.”
The emergency will exist as long as the conditions of COVID-19 that gave rise to the state of emergency exist, when the mayor will terminate the state of emergency.
The declaration of a state of emergency will help the city to act more efficiently while helping to protect the safety of the community and staff, Towry said. It will help the city with acquisition of items city officials deem necessary as well as implementing personnel policies for the emergency.
The formal declaration also helps the city if it requires additional assistance in the future and will allow additional resources to flow to the city in a timely fashion, Mahler said.
Referring to utility billing, Larsen said COVID-19 has severely impacted businesses and residents financially, closing some businesses and reducing income for employees.
Operating costs do not necessarily stop accruing when a business closes or resident loses income, Larsen said, adding that the city desires to ease the financial burden while continuing to provide access to water and wastewater services.
When a business shuts off a utility account, the city charges a fee to shut it off and another fee to turn it on, Larsen said. The total is $40.
The new policy will allow the city to cover the cost by paying the amount from economic development funds to the utility, allowing businesses to avoid utility charges during their closures.
Under the policy, upon request of a residential account holder, payments plans may be negotiated and fees waived, Larsen said. Special arrangements may be made by direct negotiations between the city and the account holder, and the city encourages anyone who needs such arrangements to contact the city as soon as possible.
The council adopted a tiered emergency response plan created by Code Enforcement Officer Tommy Mull, who served as an emergency planner during his career with the U.S. Air Force.
The plan is designed to ensure that the city organization can continue to function and avoid disruption throughout the emergency. Steps range from additional cleaning precautions and encouraging sick people to stay at home to closing public buildings and requiring non-essential employees to stay home and work from at home if possible.
At the final tier, Tier IV, essential employees must be prepared to support a 24-hour-per-day, seven-day-per week operation.
The council adopted temporary personnel policies to discourage the spread of the coronavirus and to plan for maintenance of city services, including policies on telecommuting, sick leave due to COVID-19, alternate work schedules, social distancing and identification of essential staff.
The council also adopted a personnel policy revision allowing the city manager to take appropriate action based on circumstances, placing employees on a combination of paid administrative leave, indefinite leave, furlough, layoffs for lack of work, reductions in hours, and position reclassification to part time, during an emergency.
Present at the meeting were councilors Cortney Nash, Susan Coleman, Lisa Gourley, Mahler, Diane Gerson, James Goble and Dave Trask.
Mahler canceled the council’s regular meeting scheduled for March 24.
Gourley, Mahler and Trask attended the meeting in person. Goble, Nash and Gerson were visible via video. Coleman was connected by voice. City staff reduced the number of chairs available for the public and spread out the remaining chairs to implement social distancing.
The meeting was streamed to the public via Microsoft Teams. This was the first time the Sweet Home City Council has streamed a meeting live.
City Hall closed to the public Thursday. The city may be reached at (541) 367-5128.
City parks closed Monday.
The library is closed, but digital books may be accessed at https://library2go.overdrive.com/. Due dates have been extended.
Municipal Court is closed through April 30. Payments may be made by phone, (541) 367-4660 or online, https://www.municipalonlinepayments.com/sweethomeor/.
The Police Department remains open, but it has suspended public fingerprinting and requests that people limit visits to its lobby to emergency situations.
Public Works is closed to the public and no longer accepting deliveries; but it remains fully operational.
Around the community, the Sweet Home Senior Center is closed until further notice. The Wednesday lunch meal is take-out only. Meals on Wheels is delivering Monday, Tuesday and Friday. No lunch will be served in the dining area, although meals are available on a take-out basis.
Schools and the Boys and Girls Club remain closed through April 28. The School district is providing lunch from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. outside Foster School and Sweet Home High School on weekdays. The club is providing lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. outside the club.
The pool is closed.
Sweet Home Sanitation collection remains on schedule. The company will not pick up extra bags or loose trash. The transfer station is open during normal hours.
Customers are asked to remain in their vehicles.
Only two vehicles will be allowed in the yard at a time. The office is closed to the public. It is available by phone (541) 367-2535 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. A payment box is located near front door.
Linn Shuttle, the Sweet Home Shopper and Dial-A-Bus are running their regular routes. Linn Shuttle is maximizing “social distance” among riders.
The Linn County Public Health COVID-19 Call Center is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week at (541) 967-3888.