As Mayor Paul Choate and Robert Edmonds, director of public works, toured the city just before noon Monday, the temperature inside Edmonds's city-issued pickup truck read 17 degrees.
Outdoor temperatures were expected to drop lower and remain below freezing as the day wore on and bring with them another round of snow and ice in an Arctic blast that has gripped most of the country.
"The mayor and I are out right now looking around to see what shape things are in," Edmonds said.
The pair was out and about along with city crews who were applying salt and sand along the viaduct on Hillsboro/U.S. 82-B and the entrances of South Arkansas Regional Hospital, local nursing homes and Lion Oil/U.S. Delek refinery.
"We're trying to get everything cleared up the best we can," said Edmonds.
Choate said the city's garbage collection service has been placed on pause this week.
The service was temporarily suspended due to city office closings on Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and was to have resumed today.
"Fair warning, we may run a bit farther behind with garbage pickup than many citizens would anticipate," Choate said. "We can't put our garbage trucks out on the road when it's like this. We're trying very hard to keep everyone safe and not to get anyone hurt."
The mayor also announced that City Hall will be closed today and that a regular El Dorado City Council meeting that had been scheduled for today has been canceled.
It was to have been the council's first regular meeting of the year and had already been rescheduled due to the Arkansas Municipal League Winter Conference, which was held Jan. 10 - 12 in Little Rock.
The council meeting was originally set for Jan. 11 and had been rescheduled for today.
Choate said the city is taking its cues from the El Dorado School District, which has canceled classes for today.
"If the schools can't meet, then we shouldn't meet," the mayor said, adding that he will select another date for the city council meeting.
Main Street El Dorado has also canceled its first regularly scheduled meeting for the year due to the inclement weather.
The meeting was to have been held at noon today at the El Dorado-Union County Chamber of Commerce.
The board meeting has tentatively been reset for 11:30 a.m. Jan. 23 in the First Financial Bank corporate building, 300 E. Peach.
Beth Brumley, executive director of MSE, said a recap of a community survey MSE conducted last fall will immediately follow the board meeting.
The survey opened in late October and closed on Nov. 19.
MSE sought feedback from the community to help set goals and priorities for the MSE program and the city's award-winning downtown, which largely makes up the MSE footprint.
MSE board members have said the results from the survey will be incorporated into a new strategic plan that MSE is preparing for 2024.
MSE partnered with the University of Central Arkansas Center for Community Design and Development, who drafted the survey and is compiling the results.
Brumley said a UCACCD is expected to conduct the survey recap on Jan. 23.
Choate and Edmonds advised residents to stay home if possible and do not attempt to drive in dangerous winter weather conditions.
Residents who must drive are encouraged to drive, accelerate and decelerate slowly and increase their following distance.
"We encourage everybody to stay put. The less people are out there, the less potential for any issues," Choate and Edmonds said.
Added Edmonds, "(Today) is supposed to be worse than (Monday) and (Wednesday) is supposed to be worse than (Tuesday). Hopefully, by Thursday, this stuff will start moving out of here."