MONROE, La. – Monroe officials are taking precautions to fight against COVID-19. Officials are limiting city hall and other offices to just employees and taking further measures.
“Business is going to run as usual. However, we’re taking under consideration everybody’s safety,” Councilwoman Juanita Woods says. She also says Tuesday’s city council agenda will be short and to the point. “We are going to cover those items on the agenda that are necessary to continue to keep the city moving and take care of the business of the city. Those items that we can postpone until the next meeting in April, we definitely will.”
The council will also limit attendance to no more than 10 people in the meeting at one time. Those people will be sitting in designated chairs to maintain social distancing.
The meeting will also be broadcast live for people to stay tuned. “We’re taking the public comments, however, we are asking that if you have comments addressing any of the agenda items, that you will email those comments in, and the city assistant attorney will read the comments at the time that those items are brought for the council,” Woods says.
Even city department meetings are being relocated to the council chamber to further that cause. “We need to make sure that we’re doing everything we possibly can to stop the spread of this horrible disease,” Monroe mayor Jamie Mayo says.
Monroe Fire Department is even taking further steps to keep their employees and the public safe. “We don’t have the proper protective equipment to deal with such a pandemic that we’re actually experiencing,” Monroe Fire chief Terry Williams says.
So, Monroe Fire Deparment is now suspending responding to all non-fire related EMS calls. “We will still respond to any fire-related call, any technical rescue call or any automobile accident,” Williams says.
Mayo says department heads will report plans of action going forward by Tuesday at noon,
