The message on the morning of Monday, March 16, was that Sedona City Hall would remain open — at least for the time being. But by the afternoon, that all changed.
With decisions being made at the city, state and national level not just daily but hourly in terms of the coronavirus outbreak, the city of Sedona is trying to stay ahead of the curve in order to protect residents and staff members. It will do this by closing in-person access to city facilities, and move to virtual and phone services effective Wednesday, March 18. This will not include some essential departments such as the police, city maintenance and wastewater management.
As to the reasoning behind the change, City Manager Justin Clifton said it was a result of President Donald Trump’s stricter guidelines limiting groups of 10 people or more, which he stated on Monday, March 16.
“The bottom line is, we want to err on the side of caution and want to protect our entire population to the greatest extent possible,” Clifton said. “All non-essential programs are shut down. We will maintain some services in a reduced structure.”
On Tuesday, March 17, Mayor Sandy Moriarty declared a state of emergency.
According to a press release, “this is a routine measure meant to ensure the city can be nimble in the response to the coronavirus and dedicate the resources to take whatever actions are deemed necessary in this rapidly-evolving situation.”
The city did not indicate what made the measure “routine.” The current declaration, however, cites the wrong state law and does not have an end date; state law requires emergency orders have a date and time when they sunset.
No decisions have been made on business closures but those, and other actions, will be discussed.
In terms of the city hall closure, the following will be in effect until Saturday, March 28:
- Non-essential but important services like building and development services will be reduced.
- All non-essential services and programs like general inquiries, on-site meetings, billing functions, etc. are postponed.
- City Council business will be reduced to essential items, but no public will be permitted to attend meetings. In accordance to Open Meeting Law, citizens may watch online and the city is exploring alternative options for public participation.
- City parks will remain open but all organized recreation activities, including the city’s Parks and Recreation Department’s programs and classes, and facility rentals are canceled.
- City Municipal Courts services will be reduced and/or rescheduled but staff will be available for initial appearances, filing an order of protection and hearing time arrangement.
- Volunteer Park Rangers will suspend all operations and will not have a daily presence in Uptown.
The city has canceled all of its large-scale events that would generate crowds of more than 50 people. This included the March 14 St. Patrick’s Parade as well as the upcoming Food Truck Festival, Celebration of Spring and any others over the next eight weeks. The city is also canceling any small-scale group gatherings including recreation-type activities and rentals of city-space for group congregations.
In addition to its own events, the city sent emails to various groups hosting events projected to draw 50 or more people, informing them that their Temporary Use Permit has been unilaterally revoked.
A letter from the city states, “Out of caution, and in the interest of protecting our citizens and visitors from the potential spread of COVID-19, and in line with or exceeding the guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the city of Sedona is revoking all Temporary Use Permit approvals for the next eight weeks, ending May 9, 2020. In addition, we will be processing a full refund of the permit fee for this event. The Finance Department will process the refund and mail a check in the next couple of weeks.”
While a possible pandemic is rarely expected, the city does have a chapter covering this possibility in its disaster and response plan handbook. There is a checklist of what to do and who to stay in contact with at the county and state level.
“We’re taking a lot of our cues from them but our approach is to meet or exceed those guidelines for preparedness,” Clifton said, adding that he has been in contact with the city managers from the other Verde Valley communities in order to stay on the same page. “We’re all pretty much dropped everything else in order to avoid leaving anything to chance. It’s all preparation and planning at this point.”
To learn more information about the city’s response to COVID-19, go to sedonaaz.gov/covid19.
Sedona Fire District Ready
Sedona Fire District Assistant Chief Jayson Coil said the department has been adapting its response guidelines since January and has been determining what actions can be taken to reduce disruption and maintain continuity of operations.
“We have been considerate of the fact that, while the average age in Arizona is 30, the average age in Sedona is almost 60. I believe our caution and proactive stance is warranted.”
He said SFD will continue determining what other controls they can put into effect based on recent guidance by their partner agencies and experts.
“We know our personnel are not immune to the illness and that the immediate priority of caring for the ill or injured, while preventing the spread of the pandemic, may be impacted by factors outside our control,” Coil said. “The situation in Italy illustrates a critical shortage of health care workers is a major concern. This means we must continue to combine all available actions to protect our personnel so we can continue to provide service.”
