City to assess when to reopen buildings

UITIHHURG » The city’s municipal buildings have been closed to the public for over six months due to the coronavirus, but Mayor Stephen DiNatale says premises could start to reopen under certain restrictions.

“We’re working on getting people back when it’s necessary to be face-to-face with the Building Department, the Health Department, the Treasurer, the Assessors, or wherever,” DiNatale said. “We would do that by appointment only, so that we can control how many people are coming in and out.”

Public buildings have been closed to the public since Monday, March 16, to protect members of the public and city employees during the initial COVID-19 outbreak.

All essential city services have continued and all buildings are staffed under modified schedules and limited staffing needed to keep those services running and within social distancing.

The mayor said the limited square footage of many municipal buildings has prevented reopenings in the face of COVID19.

“We’re very restricted right now in terms of space,” DiNatale said. “That certainly prevents us from bringing back employees or opening it up to the public.”

DiNatale also said that he has directed his department heads to begin reviewing plans and what measures that are going to be needed for the eventual reopening of City Hall and other municipal buildings.

Those plans would be submitted to the Health Department for consideration.

“We’re trying to adhere to the directives put forward by the state and we’ll continue to attack the situation that way,” DiNatale said. “We want to be sure that we move forward deliberately and safely. It’s a process and it’s going to take time.”

The city’s Building Depart

ment has continued permitting online and performing inspections in person when needed.

Library Director Sharon Bernard said there are plans to introduce limited access to library computers in the coming weeks, if approved by the city.

Bernard said residents would be allowed to use the devices on two specified days during the week.

“Some people have been without computers for six months,” she said.

Bernard added that access to a computer is important for several reasons, including education, job searching, and assistance services.

The Fitchburg Police Department has kept its main lobby open to the public and the Fire Department is open for vital paperwork or services approved by Fire Chief Anthony Marrama.

As of Tuesday, the city has had 894 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of March. Fitchburg currently has 12 confirmed and four probable active cases of the virus, and those individuals are under isolation orders.

“The city of Fitchburg’s numbers are pretty good and we’re very thankful for that,” DiNatale said.

The mayor said decisions related to public buildings will be reviewed on an ongoing basis.