Supervisors lock courthouse in COVID-19 action

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

Access to the offices at the Floyd County courthouse will be strictly limited beginning today, after action taken at an emergency meeting of the Board of Supervisors Thursday afternoon.

The inside door at the main north entrance of the courthouse will be locked so that people will be able to only enter the outer door into an entryway. A locked dropbox will be available to drop off payments or other items.

There will be a sign with contact information for all the county offices, said County Auditor Gloria Carr. The preference is that people use their own cellphones to make the call if they need to talk to someone in a courthouse office.

“We do have a phone there that doesn’t have a receiver,” she said. “You just touch the numbers for the extension for the office and that office will address any questions that you have and make arrangements if you need to more assistance through the door.”

The meeting was called as an emergency meeting because of the evolving novel coronavirus situation, said Supervisor Chairman Roy Schwickerath.

Usually under Iowa law a public meeting by a government body requires 24 hours notice and posting of an agenda to the public, but an emergency meeting can be called if action is required sooner than 24 hours.

The text of the motion passed by the board includes:

“After discussions with multiple department heads and employees, the Floyd County Supervisors feel it is appropriate at this time to lock the main door of the Floyd County Courthouse to the public effective 8 a.m. Friday, March 20, 2020, until further notice. …

“We support our department heads within our other buildings to take appropriate steps to lock their doors or limit access while providing services to our citizens as appropriate.

“All employees will be required to report to work at this time or follow the employee handbook for paid or unpaid leave until further notice and expected to follow the CDC guidelines regarding health and hygiene In the work place.”

The setting for the meeting was a likely look at meetings to come. It was streamed live on the county Emergency Management Agency Facebook page, www.facebook.com/FloydCOIAEMA, and was also available by telephone conference call.

It was held in the ground floor assembly room and “will be limited to 10 people,” the agenda said. There were six people in person at the meeting. Supervisor Linda Tjaden is out of town and participated by telephone. At the highest, 44 people were viewing the meeting online.

Carr said meetings are being held in the assembly room because there is more room for social separation between people.

Meetings, including the workshop meeting at 9 a.m. Monday and the regular meeting at 9 a.m. Tuesday next week, will be available to the public by conference call, at 641-257-6165, access code 1235#. They may also be live-streamed.

Schwickerath said some other county facilities are closed to the public as well.

Visitor access to the county jail was restricted Monday, and the Secondary Roads department has locked the doors at its main maintenance building and county sheds.

The county solid waste collection site is still open, with verbal sign-in rather than written.
County Conservation has closed all its buildings to the public, but outdoor areas are still open. They are not taking reservations for county campsites and other facilities.

Conservation staff is working on making available activity instructions for families to do at home while the schools are closed, Schwickerath said, giving the example of kits and information to build bluebird houses.

The Floyd County Public Health office is open with limited access and monitoring people who visit, “but they’re trying to still maintain their services as best they can,” he said.

The Department of Human Services building on South Main Street is still unlocked, he said. “They have controlled access to their entryway, but they are at this time trying to stay unlocked.”