The spread of COVID-19 dominated discussion at Tuesday evening’s Columbus City Council meeting, with the council voting unanimously to declare a local emergency in the city.
The declaration allows the city to collect funding from the state to aid efforts to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. Lowndes County passed a similar declaration Tuesday morning.
The council also unanimously voted to reimburse those who had booked the city owned Trotter Convention Center downtown and all Parks and Recreation facilities until further notice, at Mayor Robert Smith’s suggestion. Smith said not only is it in keeping with guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but he thought it would not be fair for the city facilities to remain open for events while the council urged restaurants to limit their capacity to 50 or fewer people.
“If we’re asking the restaurants and the businesses … to stay below 50, I think we need to lead by example,” Smith said.
However, the council stopped short of actually mandating any businesses close or limit their capacity, or that restaurants move to take-out services only. The council kicked around the idea of closing bars and nightclubs at 10 p.m. after Ward 3 Councilman Charlie Box and Ward 2 Councilman Joseph Mickens raised concerns that people are still gathering socially, which public health experts have said can facilitate the spread of the virus. Mickens said the council needs to have a “game plan.”
“The situation is getting worse,” he said. “… It ain’t getting better.”
Smith suggested the council wait to see whether Gov. Tate Reeves mandates business closures before mandating anything themselves.
“I think we’ll be on safe ground then,” he said.
The council also voted to adopt a resolution based on an executive order from Reeves to grant certain city employees administrative leave with pay under certain circumstances, including if they are deemed nonessential, if their departments close or if they or a close family member have to go into quarantine or isolation due to the virus.
Columbus Air Force Base Commander Col. Samantha Weeks updated the council on conditions at the base. Currently, she said, CAFB is following CDC guidelines to limit gatherings to 50 people or fewer, with base personnel stressing the importance of social distancing, hand washing and other techniques to slow the spread of the virus. She said while commanders have discussed also limiting restaurants on the base to take-out only or limiting military members from frequenting bars, they have not yet mandated that.
Pilots are still flying missions, but only to other military bases, she said, in accordance with new Air Force policies.
“We want to do our best along with you to minimize the spread of coronavirus,” she said.
City Public Information Officer Joe Dillon also presented the council with a list of city properties where Columbus Municipal School District personnel plan to set up Wi-Fi hotspots for students who need to access internet while schools are closed. Dillon said the city and district are looking at installing equipment in areas around Sim Scott Park, Townsend Community Center, East Columbus Gym, Sandfield Cemetery, two housing authorities and the lawn at the Tennessee Williams Welcome Center.
Dillon said the locations were chosen to be places where people didn’t need to get out of their cars and go into a building.
“We’re putting them in areas (with) awnings, pavilions, things like that, so people can drive up and use them,” Dillon said. “That’s our best idea we can come up with right now.”
In non COVID-19 business, the council voted to have city engineer Kevin Stafford begin advertising bids for construction of four roundabouts at intersections on Main Street, a planned $4.5 million project city officials hope will slow down traffic and decrease accidents downtown.
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