Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
BENTON COUNTY judge sets tentative date for opening.
Moehring outlines plan for Benton County employees, buildings
BENTONVILLE — Benton County has a tentative plan to bring employees back to work and open buildings to the public, County Judge Barry Moehring said Wednesday.
Moehring outlined the plan and procedures in a letter to county employees. County buildings have been closed since March 16 when Moehring declared an emergency because of the covid-19 pandemic.
County buildings are tentatively set to open May 11. This is in line with guidance from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and President Donald Trump’s plan, Moehring said. Guidelines include developing and implementing appropriate policies regarding social distancing and protective equipment, temperature checks, sanitation, the use and disinfection of common and high-traffic areas, according to the White House website.
Employers should continue to encourage telework whenever possible and feasible with business operations, the CDC guidelines say.
Many employees who aren’t working in county facilities are tentatively scheduled to return on site Monday, Moehring said. About 150 county employees are working from home, he said.
Employees will be encouraged to telecommute when and where possible, based on individual job requirements and supervisor approval, according to the letter.
“All county functions have continued to operate in one form or another since we closed the buildings to the public,” Moehring said. “Keep in mind we’ve still had essential county employees working in our buildings such as Cencom, IT, in the Assessor’s Office, Circuit Clerk, etc. But the overall numbers are down, and many are working from home.”
Washington County Judge Joseph Wood said there’s no set time for opening offices, but May 18 is being viewed as a possible date.
“That’s largely predicated on the courts and the restrictions they have in place,” Wood said. The Washington County Courthouse houses both county offices and most of the circuit court judges and their courtrooms.
Wood said county officials also are considering how quickly the state plans to relax restrictions on public gatherings.
“Even with the slow rollout everyone is looking to do, there are still going to be limitations,” Wood said. “If you’re going to maintain social distancing and limit gatherings to no more than 10 people how open are you really going to be? If you have to have 12 people in a jury box, what do you do? I don’t know right now if any of those restrictions are going to be relaxed.”
Moehring said his job is to make the buildings as safe as possible and to allow the public back into the buildings. Within the buildings, elected officials will determine how they will operate their offices, he said.
Assessor Roderick Grieve said the plan is to have the main office in the County Administration Building open May 11.
“We’re in the process of working through the logistics for staffing the satellite offices with no final determination at this time,” he said.
County Clerk Betsy Harrell said her office will continue to offer marriage license by appointment, but the days and hours will be expanded to normal office hours of 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
“We don’t want more than one couple in the office at a time, and the online application process will continue to minimize the amount of time they have to have contact with us,” Harrell said. “We will be able to resume notarization of documents.”
The Siloam Springs office will remain closed because of staffing shortages, Harrell said.
“We ask that anyone needing to come in call first, as many things can be handled online or over the phone, such as voter registration ad- dress changes, absentee ballot applications and other election information,” she said.
Entering buildings a week prior to the public will allow staff to attend to tasks not accomplished during the closing, grapple with developments during their absence and understand new procedures to contain the virus’ spread, Moehring wrote.
“It’s a phased and cautious reopening. If we get any inkling it is not safe, we will postpone it,” he said.
County officials also will follow guidance from the state regarding opening and plans could change if that guidance changes, Moehring said.
There have been 80 positive covid-19 cases with 47 recoveries and no deaths in Benton County as of Wednesday, according to the Arkansas Department of Health website.
The county will have a list of new policies related to covid-19 starting Monday, Moehring said.
Employees will be required to wear cloth face coverings or masks that cover the nose and mouth when interacting with the public and other employees. The goal is to provide a mask to those who want or need one, and employees are encouraged and welcome to bring their own masks, Moehring said. Gloves will be provided if the county is able to procure them, he said.
Masks are one of the challenging aspects of the opening, he said. The county has ordered thousands of masks that are starting to arrive in a haphazard way, he said. Also, some people don’t like to wear a mask, he said.
Employees will be asked to clean and sanitize their
“Even with the slow rollout everyone is looking to do, there are still going to be limitations. If you’re going to maintain social distancing and limit gatherings to no more than 10 people how open are you really going to be?” — Joseph Wood, Washington County judge
work areas at the beginning and end of each workday at a minimum. Employees will practice social distancing by maintaining 6 feet of space between other staff and the public when being in closer proximity isn’t directly necessary to accomplish a task. Break rooms are no exceptions, Moehring said.
Employees will be encouraged to wash their hands with soap and water and/or sanitize their hands regularly during the day. Hand sanitizer is available in restrooms and public-facing areas in every county building.
The custodial staff cleans county buildings twice a day. This includes wiping down all surfaces regularly touched and disinfecting restrooms, drinking fountains and other high-contact surfaces nightly using a Clorox360 machine sprayer.
Bryan Beeson, county facilities administrator, said his eight-person, full-time custodial staff cleans 13 buildings spread across the county. The custodial staff wears gloves and face masks and has the option to use a face shield when cleaning, Beeson said.
“Cleaning is very important,” he said. “Since the buildings have been closed, we have been able to ramp things up and fine tune cleaning in public spaces and restrooms. Anywhere people access, touch or walk through gets cleaned.”
Mike Jones may be reached by email at mjones@nwadg.com. Staff writer Tom Sissom contributed to this report.