Mayor and Council – Since it is Friday and it looks like we may see the sun for a moment or two I thought I would give you a quick update on a few items of interest below:
Reopen Molalla – As a reminder, the City of Molalla is not the authority regarding what and when Molalla can reopen through either phasing or fully reopening. That authority rests solely with the Governor by way of a reopening plan that must be submitted by Clackamas County. Our understanding from Commission Board Chair Bernard is that a plan is imminent and should be submitted early next week. In fairness to the County, the Governor did place some requirements on reopening benchmarks that the County does not control. Information coming out of the State is not always clear and as we have learned it sometimes take a few days to clarify. They are working through those items however and we may receive a draft as early as today. I truly believe that the hard work of our Mayor (and others in the County) has had a profound positive impact on the timing of reopening Molalla. I included a link below that we have on our website and shared on Facebook as well that details State requirements on reopening businesses. If you receive questions it may be helpful to direct people there.
http://govstatus.egov.com/or-covid-19
Library – We are working in coordination with the Clackamas Library District as opposed to synchronization. However, Library Director, Diana Hadley has previously developed a phased reopening plan and we will be ready once the time is right. Library staff have been conducting curbside pick-up for a few days per week since last Friday. Not all County Libraries are doing this nor can they conduct this process for various reasons. Library staff is hoping to make the best decisions for Molalla they can.
City Hall – We have been preparing to open City Hall to the public for a few weeks now and we have a plan in place where that may occur as early as next week. We cannot open to the public until we have a few items that we are waiting to receive. We may just announce more of a soft opening. You all will be the first to know.
Park Restrooms – As you are all aware we closed the public restrooms at the outset of COVID-19. What has not been publicized much is what we were experiencing right before the shut-down. We were experiencing a marked increase in vandalism (much higher than previously) and we have used this time for multiple repairs. For example: All the doors in our four restrooms were destroyed. The cost for the City to replace the unrepairable restroom doors was a $10,000 cost. In comparison, replacing needed playground equipment is a $22,000 to $25,000 cost. These funds originate from the same “pot”. Police and Public Works are currently working on a new plan for our public restrooms moving forward. We cannot sustain the cost to the public for this service. More to come on this item.
I would like to thank my Staff for their hard work during this shut-down they have accomplished quite a lot. Also, we need to recognize our local business community who have been resilient throughout this process. Please let me know if you have questions or need further information on any of these items.
Dan Huff
City Manager
City of Molalla, Oregon
(503)829-6855
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