The city of Arnold will follow the same plans the state and Jefferson County have in place to reopen economic and social activity on Monday (May 4), City Administrator Bryan Richison has announced.
“We are not going to get into issuing any orders ourselves,” Richison said.
On Monday (April 27), Gov. Mike Parson announced the “Show Me Strong Recovery Plan,” which effectively ends the stay-at-home order in place to stem the spread of COVID-19.
On Tuesday (April 28), Jefferson County Executive Dennis Gannon said the county’s reopening plan will mirror the state’s plan, which will allow inside dining at bars and restaurants and end many restrictions on business operations and public gatherings.
The county’s plan also was signed by Jefferson County Health Department Director Kelley Vollmar.
The county’s restaurant order went into effect March 20 and restricted bars and restaurants from offering sit-down service. The county’s stay-at-home order has been in effect since March 23.
While those orders will end, the state and county still recommend social distancing and following other health guidelines to try to minimize the spread of the coronavirus.
“I’m really curious what is going to happen with things easing up on (Monday),” Richison said. “Are we going to see a spike (in positive coronavirus cases)?”
Richison said Arnold will open some but not all of its facilities.
He said the lobbies in City Hall and the Police Station, both at 2101 Jeffco Blvd., will reopen Monday. However, all other city-operated buildings – such as the Public Works Department, 2900 Arnold Tenbrook Road – will remain closed.
“There is not a lot of reason to open other city buildings,” Richison said.
The Arnold Recreation Center, 1695 Missouri State Road, also will remain closed for the foreseeable future. It has been closed since March 23.
“With social distancing still in place, we really don’t have a good idea yet of how to handle (reopening the rec center),” Richison said.
The Arnold Farmers Market, which is located near the entrance of Arnold City Park on Bradley Beach Road, will open for the 2020 season on Saturday (May 9). However, there are restrictions on how the market will operate.
Vendors only will be allowed to sell food products or plants that produce food, and there will be a limit on how many booths are set up in the market and how many customers are allowed into the market area at one time.
“We have a plan on how to control the crowd, and we ran that plan by the county Health Department and received their approval,” Richison said.
The city never closed its parks; however the playgrounds were closed and will remain closed, he said.
Richison said the city will not allow people to rent pavilions for gatherings at the start of the recovery plan either.
“It is still the same situation with the playground equipment; we can’t continually clean it,” Richison said. “It is still a potential risk for virus transmission. Because of social distancing being in place, it would be difficult for people to rent them and comply with (social-distancing recommendations).”
Richison said city officials are still discussing if and when the outdoor pool at the rec center will open for the season.
“It doesn’t normally open until after Memorial Day (May 25), so I think we will continue to think about how it might open, if it opens,” Richison said. “I think we are going to do what we need maintenance-wise to have (the pool) ready, but I don’t know when that might open.
“If there is social distancing still in place, it is hard to see how that would work. Unless we limit the number of people who are allowed in at one time so they would have room to spread out. That becomes a challenge, because then you are turning people away. That is a tough one.”
Richison said the city’s 130 full-time employees will continue to work in two groups with one group scheduled to work one week, and the other group working the next week on a rotating basis.
“Even with the stay-at-home lifted, the concern is that the virus is still out there,” he said. “If one employee becomes infected, then we would have other employees that could be infected or need to be quarantined, and we would lose a huge chunk of our staff. We will keep them split up to combat that.”
Richison also said the city will continue to conduct council and commission meetings by telephone, and only when those meetings are needed.
The City Council held its first teleconference meeting April 16. Before that, the council had not met in person since a March 12 work session, when members unanimously voted to allow meetings to be held by teleconference.
Richison said the Thursday (May 7) and May 21 council meetings will be held via telephone, and the May 14 work session will not be held. The City Council holds regular meetings at 7 p.m. on the first and third Thursday of each month, and work sessions on the second Thursday at City Hall.
“The telephone meetings have worked out better than I thought,” Richison said. “They were not as chaotic as I expected, and we may continue that for quite a while, until the council is comfortable meeting in public. Several of them are in the high-risk group, if they would get it. I think they are very concerned about their health. If we don’t have to have them come out and put themselves at risk, there is no reason to do that.”
For the second year in a row, Richison said he thinks the city’s Fourth of July celebration, which typically is held annually at Arnold City Park, likely will be canceled.
The 2019 Fourth of July event was canceled because of flooding from the Meramec River.
Richison said a final decision about this year’s Fourth of July celebration likely be made this week.
“We are at the point now where we need the vendors, especially the food vendors, locked in,” he said. “We will talk about it more, but it is hard to imagine how that (holding the event) would work.”
Richison also said the pandemic could affect Arnold Days, which is scheduled for Sept. 18-20 at Arnold City Park.
“We are not making decisions about that yet,” Richison said. “Nobody has a crystal ball and knows what it will look like. It wouldn’t be shocking if social distancing is still in place and there are restrictions through the rest of the year. How do you have that event with those conditions?”
