Dayton closes City Hall, stops water cutoffs

City also cancels next two city commission meetings.

Dayton City Hall closed to the public on Thursday as part of the city’s continued efforts to limit city staff and members of the public to possible exposure to the COVID-19 infection.

The city’s payments centers and customer service counters will be closed until further notice, and though citizens still need to pay their water and sewer bills, disconnections have been suspended during the crisis, city officials said.

The city has canceled commission meetings for at least the next two weeks, and it has suspended all public meetings, including the city’s zoning board, landmark commission and community meetings.

After a series of crises last year such as the Memorial Day tornadoes and the Oregon District shooting, the city of Dayton is probably more prepared for this emergency than any other local jurisdiction across the country, said Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley.

“Unfortunately, they are very good at this and have had lots of practice,” she said.

The city of Dayton has shut down its buildings to public access, similar to steps taken by other public agencies like the Montgomery County treasurer, the Social Security offices and others.

City buildings that have closed include the city’s one-stop center at 120 W. Second St., the Dayton Convention Center, the water administration building and all

July, took another job, according to Lolli, and his resignation was effective March 6. The board on Tuesday named Torronce Jackson to replace Gray on an interim basis. Jackson had been associate executive director of operations for the DPS transportation department. DPS has gone through several leaders in its busing department in the past few years.

DPS also hired Lloyd Knight for a school principal position effective in July. No school assignment was listed on the agenda, but Lolli said she expects to have an opening this summer. Knight has been a principal at Chicago and

Indianapolis charter schools.

New headquarters

The school board approved another $322,262 for Bilbrey Construction’s HVAC, plumbing and teledata systems work at the 136 S. Ludlow St., which will be DPS’ new administrative offices.

Lolli said work on the buildings, which are across the street from DPS’ current headquarters, are in the final phase. She said a current target move-in date is July 1, barring construction delays tied to coronavirus or other issues.

The central office move was first scheduled for summer 2018, but has been delayed repeatedly by more than $3 million in renovations.

Retirement incentives

The school board approved an “early retirement plan” that would provide financial incentives for veteran teachers and administrators to retire. During the meeting, Lolli said eligible staff would receive a $55,000 incentive over five years if they retired. She said a consultant estimated the plan could save DPS $4 million over eight years, because the district would have fewer veteran, high-salary employees.

As of Wednesday, the district had not posted a copy of the document the board approved, explaining the full details of the plan.

Contact this reporter at 937225-2278 or email Jeremy. Kelley@coxinc.com.