Mayor Veronica Smith-Creer said she has not yet solidified a date to reopen City Hall to the public but she hopes to make an announcement soon.
Public access to municipal buildings and offices — including City Hall, the El Dorado Fire Department stations and the El Dorado Water Utilities — has been restricted since March 13.
The El Dorado Police Department followed suit just days later by closing its lobby to the public and modifying operations, including taking reports of misdemeanor offenses by phone and determining if a physical response is needed for certain calls for service.
Since March, residents have been advised to, when possible, conduct business with the city through other means, including by phone and using the drive-through window and payment slot at the EWU.
Some restrictions have been relaxed over the past few weeks.
For instance, residents who wanted to attend El Dorado City Council meetings were not initially allowed inside the Council Chamber.
Chairs for audience members were set up at least 6 feet apart in the City Hall atrium, just outside the Council Chamber.
Now, residents may enter the chamber but they are still encouraged to practice social distancing and to wear a face mask when attending council meetings.
Smith-Creer said that while the reopening plan is still under development, some safety guidelines have been confirmed.
“Once we open back up, people will enter what they call the ‘sally port’ (on the back side of City Hall). That will be the new (public) entrance. People will be buzzed in and they will have their temperature checked,” the mayor said. “We will keep all other entrances locked.”
She also said the number of people who will be allowed in City Hall offices will be limited.
Smith-Creer said she reached out to Union County Judge Mike Loftin about the steps he took to reopen the Union County Courthouse two weeks ago.
Loftin said citizens may enter the courthouse through the doors on the west (North Washington Avenue) side of the building.
“My (Union County sheriff’s) deputy inside, the security guy, is taking temperatures when you come in and if it’s high, he’s not going to let you in,” Loftin said.
Loftin said only 10 visitors are allowed inside the courthouse at a time, with one exception.
“Those who have to go upstairs for court (proceedings), we’re letting them go,” Loftin said, adding that precautionary measures, including wearing face masks and engaging in social distancing, are required for the courtrooms on the upper floors of the courthouse.
“If you’re going downstairs to see the tax assessor or the tax collector, you’re not required to wear a mask. We prefer masks but we don’t require it,” the county judge said.
Loftin said he did not publicly announce the reopening of the courthouse, explaining that he instead opted for a soft opening to avoid crowds rushing to the courthouse at once.
“We didn’t want people standing outside in the heat waiting to get in and we wanted to see how things went,” Loftin said.
Another factor is weighing on the decision to reopen City Hall, Smith-Creer said.
Work is ongoing to remodel the City Collector’s office and to purchase new furniture to make way for a change in office space for some City Hall employees.
A new wall is being built to partition off the collector’s office from the employee break room, both of which share the same space in City Hall.
The break room is not visible from the entrance into the collector’s office but the mayor noted there is no divider to separate the office from the break room.
“I think there used to be wall there, so if it was, we’re just putting it back and we have to do some electrical work in that office. After we decided to do that, we realized that much of the furniture in the collector’s office was crumbling,” Smith-Creer said.
Old furniture, file cabinets and other implements from the collector’s office have been piled into the atrium while the work is ongoing.
During an El Dorado City Council meeting June 18, the mayor introduced three new City Hall employees — Yasmeen Greer, receptionist; Julie Murray, city collector; and LaTosha Gatson, payroll clerk.
Smith-Creer also announced that Pierce Moore, former administrative assistant in the mayor’s office, is the city’s new human resource director.
The payroll clerk and human resource positions also encompass the El Dorado Water Utilities, the mayor said.
She said the city’s accounts payable clerk, Sharon Tucker, will move from a shared office with the city treasurer and into the city collector’s office once the remodel is complete and Moore will move into the payroll clerk’s office.