Keeping it coming: City of Festus continues providing services
No matter what is happening in the world – the COVID-19 pandemic included – Festus must and will continue providing municipal services to its citizens, city spokeswoman Barb Lowry said.
“It is the city government,” she said. “We don’t stop. We have to keep going to provide the services that citizens want and need.
“If the streets crumble and the water doesn’t flow into homes, residents won’t be happy. We have to keep going.”
She said Festus city employees have adapted to the pandemic by following health agency directives while still doing their jobs.
“The library began doing curbside pickups,” Lowry said. “They’re still doing that. At Public Works, we’ve set out a table to widen the distance between people coming to pay bills and the staff. We reopened to the public June 1.
“The latrines and playgrounds at the parks, which had been closed, have reopened.”
Lowry, Festus director of sports and marketing events, said city-sponsored public events have been hit hardest by the virus, because of social-distancing requirements.
“So far this year, we have canceled every event that had been scheduled,” she said. “This includes the Sundays at Sunset Concerts (a series of concerts that had been scheduled for Aug. 23-Sept. 27) and the Mayor’s Cruise event (that was scheduled for Sept. 19), which we’ve just canceled.
Events planned for later this year have not yet been canceled, but their viability is uncertain, at present.
“The next things still scheduled are the WinterFest on Dec. 5 and the Santa House, which opens during the WinterFest that day,” Lowry said. “Time will tell if we get to have them.”
Lowry said municipal employees are working diligently to keep providing city services despite the challenges posed by the pandemic.
“We’re trying to keep business as normal as best we can,” she said.
