City Beat Bulletin
Your City, Your News 
March 18, 2020
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Breaking News
City begins Covid-19 response measures
Golf course to remain open; most offices to close to public
The City of Bartlesville began implementing its Covid-19 Mitigation Measures this week following approval of a resolution by the Bartlesville City Council during an emergency meeting on March 18. City officials say the process is expected to take several weeks or even months to complete.

“These measures are designed to reduce the spread of this virus not only to the public but our City employees as well,” City Manager Mike Bailey said. “They primarily include limiting public access at City owned and managed facilities and changing our procedures where we can to reduce exposure to the best of our ability.”

City Hall

Effective Thursday, March 19, portions of City Hall, 401 S. Johnstone Ave., will be closed to the public. This includes the utility billing, cashiers’ and court clerk’s windows located on the first floor. Phones will be answered between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. New accounts may be established and discontinuation of services will be accepted by phone.

Utility bills and court fines can be paid:

  • Online, at www.cityofbartlesville.org.
  • By mail: City Hall, 401 S. Johnstone Ave., Bartlesville OK 74003.
  • Drop boxes, which are located in the parking lot directly south of City Hall, the first floor of City Hall and the west end of the Bartlesville Community Center parking lot.
  • Payments will also temporarily be accepted by phone via debit or credit card.

The Utility Billing office may be reached by email: [email protected] or by calling 918.338.4224. Municipal Court may be reached by email: [email protected] or by calling 918.338.4225. Note: The 10-day grace period for citations will be waived. Municipal Court is suspended and no further failure to appear warrants will be issued or served until further notice.

The Administration and Community Development departments on the second floor and Engineering Department on the third floor will also be closed. Phones will be answered between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. for all departments and staff may be seen by appointment.

The City Manager’s office may be reached by email: [email protected] or by calling 918.338.4282. The Community Development Department may be reached by email: [email protected] or by calling 918.338.4238. The Engineering Department may be reached by email: [email protected] or by calling 918.338.4251.

For information about permits, codes enforcement and building inspections, call 918.338.4238.

Police, Fire, Operations

The following facilities will also be closed to the public:

  • Police Department, 615 S. Johnstone Ave. (918.338.4001)
  • Police Department East-side Substation, 6101 Nowata Road (918.338.4001)
  • Central Fire Station, 601 S. Johnstone Ave. (918.338.4091)
  • Fire Station No. 2, 100 S. Virginia Ave. (918.338.4081)
  • Fire Station No. 3, 100 S.E. Madison Blvd. (918.338.4086)
  • Fire Station No. 4, 3501 Price Road (918.338.4112)
  • Public Works, 1700 W. Adams Blvd., (918.338.4130)
  • Water Utilities, 1700 W. Adams Blvd. (918.338.4116)

Parks, Adams Golf Course

Public restrooms at City parks will also be closed due to the inability to routinely disinfect the facilities and keep toilet paper in stock.

Adams Golf Course will continue operations as regularly scheduled, with several measures in place to ensure disinfection of the facilities and social distancing in the dining and other confined areas.

Other measures

Steps are also underway to equip many City employees with the technology required to work remotely, Bailey said.

“We already have some employees working from home and will continue these efforts until the majority are equipped to work from a remote location,” Bailey said. “Obviously, this is simply not possible for every employee of the City of Bartlesville. Police officers and firefighters, along with many in the Sanitation, Water and Wastewater departments simply have to be on-scene to ensure continuity of service to our citizens. But we need to ensure that we have the capability for the ones who can work remotely to do so.”

Other measures underway include regular disinfection of City facilities, splitting work crews into “teams” to reduce levels of exposure and reviewing emergency response protocols for possible changes in the future.

“We appreciate everyone’s patience as we implement these changes,” Bailey said. “This is a challenging time for our community and the world, but we will all work together to ensure the best outcome possible.”
Council OKs Covid-19 Mitigation Measures
Several measures aimed at reducing the spread of Covid-19, the coronavirus that the World Health Organization has deemed a pandemic, will go into effect today following a unanimous vote of the Bartlesville City Council.

The council held an emergency meeting on March 18 to consider proposed measures in response to the pandemic based on recommendations by City Manager Mike Bailey. While there are currently no confirmed cases of the virus in Washington County, Bailey and City department directors have been working for the past month to identify potential areas of concern should the virus become widespread in the community as well as ways to help reduce spread of the disease.

“When it became obvious this virus could potentially become a threat in the U.S., we began looking at our current practices and how they might need to be altered in the event of widespread illness, both in our citizen population and our employees,” Bailey said. “Our primary focus has been and continues to be maintaining continuity of the essential services we provide — water, waste water, police, fire and sanitation — to our citizens. We quickly realized that also have a responsibility, to the extent that we can, to put into place protocols that will not only help reduce exposure of this virus to the public but to our City employees as well.

“After obtaining updates and input from Gov. (Kevin) Stitt’s office and the Oklahoma State Department of Health, in conjunction with the guidelines set forth by the Centers of Disease Control and the World Health Organization over the past several days, we were ready to present these recommendations to the City Council.”

The measures

The City Council approved the following measures by voting to adopt the Covid-19 Mitigation Measures Resolution presented Wednesday:

  • Existing special event permits will be revoked and no further special event permits will be issued.
  • Municipal Court will be suspended other than by teleconference where required. No further failure to appear warrants will be issued or served.
  • All Code Enforcement hearings will be suspended.
  • Public gatherings of greater than 50 people will not be allowed at any City owned or managed facility.
  • Further utility cut-offs will be suspended. The city manager will be directed to reestablish service for any disconnected customer. Amounts due will not be forgiven.
  • City owned pools will not be opened.
  • The Bartlesville Public Library and History Museum will be closed to the public.
  • All City board and committee meetings will be canceled except for City Council and all Authorities. Authorities will be encouraged to meet only when necessary.
  • The use of City owned meeting rooms for public gatherings of any size is prohibited.
  • In-person gatherings for social, spiritual and recreational purposes including, but not limited to, community, civic, public, leisure, faith-based or sporting events, parades, concerts, festivals, conventions, fundraisers and similar activities are strongly discouraged.
  • Restaurants, bars and other privately-owned gathering places are highly encouraged to limit the number of patrons such that at least six feet of space is available to each person. Such facilities are further encouraged to provide enhanced “take out” and “delivery” options.
  •  Local gyms and exercise facilities are encouraged to discontinue all group activities and to significantly increase and enhance facility sanitation regiments.

The resolution to be considered by the council will also allow the city manager to take the following actions:

  • Where practical, close portions of public facilities to the public and encourage the use of email, telephone and other remote methods of conducting business with the City.
  • Modify work schedules and conditions as necessary to ensure business continuity and employee safety.
  • Invoke special protocols to limit the risk of exposure for City employees.
  • Establish procedures for certain employees to telecommute where practical.
  • Provide paid admin leave for employees who have potentially been exposed to Covid-19 as per management developed policy.
  • Establish mandatory disinfection protocols for all City facilities.
  • Take other actions as necessary to preserve the health and safety of City employees.
  • As needed and where prudent, utilize funding from the Capital Reserve Fund to purchase items necessary to facilitate these directions.

The measures will go into effect at 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, March 18, and will be reviewed and, if warranted, amended or renewed by the council during its regularly scheduled meeting on the first Monday of every month.

“We have been careful to ensure that our approach is measured and appropriate in this situation,” Bailey said. “We certainly do not want to feed into the panic that could create further hardships for our citizens but rather make reasonable and rational decisions that will result in us taking the appropriate actions to protect our citizens and City employees.

“We believe these measures will help us do that. It is important to note that none of these proposed actions are draconian or over-reaching. They are primarily intended to encourage or bolster guidelines and recommendations already set forth by the CDC and the WHO and are in accordance with the information we’ve received from the Oklahoma State Department of Health.”

To view the proposed resolution in its entirety, see  Covid-19 Mitigation Measures Resolution 3592 .

CDC recommendations

The virus, which is highly contagious, is spread through person-to-person contact. Symptoms include fever, cough and shortness of breath. There is currently no vaccine or treatment for Covid-19.

To help reduce the chance of infection, the CDC recommends:

  • Frequent hand washing with soap and water for a minimum of 20 seconds.
  • Use hand sanitizer when washing is not possible.
  • Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.
  • Avoid gatherings of 10 or more people.
  • Avoid contact with people who are sick.
  • Stay home when you are sick.
  • If you are sick, wear a facemask and call ahead before you seek medical care.
  • Throw used tissues in the trash.
  • Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces daily.Top of Form

Testing

Anyone who suspects they may have Covid-19 should contact their primary care provider or hospital by phone prior to seeking treatment. Testing is available through private labs and 68 county health departments but must be referred by a primary care provider or hospital. Health department test kits are limited. For more information, contact the Oklahoma State Department of Health Coronavirus Hotline at 877-215-8336.
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Kelli Williams, Editor
401 S. Johnstone Ave.
Bartlesville, OK 74003
918-338-4132