Rogers: City Council meeting attendee tests positive for coronavirus

ROGERS — A person who attended the City Council’s budget meeting Monday tested positive for covid-19, a spokeswoman for the city said.

The City Council has been holding meetings online since the spring, but held its annual meeting to discuss next year’s budget in person. The meeting spanned nearly nine hours, including a one-hour break.

“While this is regretful, it is certainly a very real part of the world we live in right now and underscores the reason we have conducted, and will continue to conduct, as much of our work as possible virtually,” Mayor Greg Hines said Wednesday night.

“Upon notice, I entered quarantine today and have a test scheduled for Friday. While some of the city hall operations will be adjusted for at least the next few weeks, rest assured that all operations will remain open and no services will be interrupted at this time.”

The city notified everyone who may have come in contact with the person who tested positive, according to the statement.

The meeting was at the John Q. Hammons Convention Center instead of City Hall so council members and other attendees could distance themselves. Face coverings were required, although department heads presenting their budgets to the council took their masks off while speaking into a microphone from a distance. The microphone and podium were disinfected between each speaker.

The annual budget meeting generally requires the mayor and each department head to present his budget proposals for the next year, including any requests for additional staff, new equipment or projects.