Governor’s ‘Safer in Place’ expanded to include all residents
The City Council voted unanimously Monday to amend measures already in place and add new restrictions as part of the City’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic — including an expansion of Gov. Kevin Stitt’s “Safer in Place” measure targeting vulnerable populations to instead include all Bartlesville residents.
The council voted to adopt an ordinance amending City Ordinance No. 3525, which was passed during an emergency meeting on March 23 and put into effect several measures aimed at reducing the spread of the novel coronavirus in the community.
The earlier provisions were set to expire at midnight on Monday if not extended by the council during their April 6 meeting. The council voted to extend the measures and considered other measures recommended by the Covid-19 Emergency Advisory Board, which was created with the passage of Ordinance No. 3525.
CAB recommendations included closing area daycare and childcare facilities and Adams Municipal Golf Course and taking steps to decrease the number of people shopping in larger retail stores at one time. The council spent considerable time discussing these and other items, which resulted in the enactment of the following measures:
Safer in Place
Section 24 of the amending ordinance expands an executive order issued last month by the governor. In the executive order, those over 65 and with compromised immune systems or underlying medical conditions were to remain at home except to conduct essential errands, such as obtaining medication, food, gasoline or medical care. The council opted to expand the order to include all residents, and added exercise as an essential errand.
Amended Section 24: ” All residents shall stay in their home or place of residence except for working in a critical infrastructure sector, as defined in the Governor’s executive order, and the conduct of essential errands. Essential errands shall mean those errands which are critical to everyday life and include exercising, obtaining medication, groceries, gasoline, and visiting medical providers.”
Adams Golf Course
The council elected to allow Adams Golf Course to remain open under the condition that only club members and/or Bartlesville residents be permitted. Several measures had already been put into place at the golf course to ensure social distancing, including closing the clubhouse, eliminating shotgun starts, disinfecting carts after every use and limiting one person per cart.
Daycare facilities
Under Section 23, daycare and child care facilities may remain open but must adhere to the following restrictions:
- Only children whose caregiver is employed in an essential infrastructure industry as defined by governor’s executive order and who do not have another caregiver in the house may be served. The caregiver must self-certify to the daycare in writing that they meet this criteria by 11:59 p.m., Thursday, April 9, 2020.
- All teacher to child ratios must be maintained at one half of that required by the State.
- All employees must wear, at a minimum, a cloth or procedure mask at all times when on the premises of a daycare of childcare facility
Retail establishments
The following measures are enacted to decrease crowding and increase the effectiveness of social distancing in retail operations, defined as establishments/operations that provide goods for sale to the public:
Reduce number of customers allowed to enter a retail building or facility:
- Maximum customers allowed in a retail building or facility must be determined by calculating the square footage of the building including any existing fenced outdoor areas where customers are allowed access to items made available for sale and dividing the square footage by 800 and round up to the nearest whole number. The maximum number of customers allowed will be based on the above calculation or six customers, whichever is greater.
- Clearly post the maximum number of customers allowed within the building or facility at all entrances and exits
- All retail stores are required to monitor the number of customers inside their building or facility at all times and to not exceed their occupancy limit calculated above
- Customers waiting to enter a building or facility are required to maintain 6 feet between themselves and all other persons at all times. Retail businesses must provide for markings or other means to ensure compliance with the 6-foot rule
- Nothing in this section would prevent a retailer from voluntarily restricting their customer occupancy further
- No minors under the age of 14 are allowed to enter into any retail operation unless accompanied by a parent or guardian
Provisions for social distancing inside all retail operations must include:
- Signage, warnings and instructions for proper social distancing to be posted throughout the retail operation
- All customers and employees of retail operations must maintain a minimum of 6 feet between themselves and all other persons at all times
- Where available, use of personal protective equipment (PPE) is required for retail employees
- Physical barriers to separate customer service representatives from customers in retail operations are required
- As per CDC guidelines, it is strongly recommended that all customers wear a cloth or procedure mask at all times while queuing or while in a retail facility (i.e., bandana, homemade mask, procedure mask, etc.) However, this is not to encourage the use of N95 masks which should be reserved for health care providers and contagious patients.
Other new measures
Garage sales, estate sales and auctions, unless otherwise authorized by law, are banned
City meetings must be held via teleconference or videoconference and only when absolutely necessary
Amended measures
The following measures approved by the City Council on March 23 have been amended and extended until May 4:
All bars of any type that provide items for off-premises consumption, breweries, taverns and restaurants are restricted to providing only drive-through, take-out, or delivery of food, sale of pre-packaged alcohol as authorized for sale under state law, or sale of other retail items as authorized for sale under state law.
Effective 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, April 7 the following places are closed to the public and all persons, except personnel necessary for maintenance of the facility and grounds, are restricted from entering:
- Athletic gyms, exercise facilities, indoor sports facilities, indoor climbing facilities, bowling alleys, skating rinks, trampoline parks and similar recreational facilities
- Movie theaters
- Shopping mall food courts
The restrictions do not apply to the following:
- Places of public accommodation that offer food and beverage not for on-premises consumption, including grocery stores, markets, convenience stores, pharmacies, drug stores, and food pantries
- Health care facilities, residential care facilities and congregate care facilities
- Crisis shelters, soup kitchens and similar institutions.
To see existing measures that were approved by the council on March 23 and have been extended until May 4, see City Ordinance No. 3525 or City begins implementing response measures. To view the amending ordinance, see Covid-19 Mitigation Measures Ordinance 3526.
A video of the City Council meeting may be viewed live on the City’s webcast, at www.cityofbartlesville.org. If you have questions or comments about this issue, you may email them to covid-19@cityofbartlesville.org .
For more information, see Covid-19 Hub at www.cityofbartlesville.org.