The Review Magazine May / June 2021

BEHIND THE SCENES Essential Services During COVID-19 By Liz Foley T he COVID-19 pandemic changed all our lives this past year. Municipalities were impacted too, affecting services and systems often overlooked and taken for granted—until they’re gone. Like every urban community, the City of Marshall’s department of public services felt COVID-19’s arrival like a sudden, hard slap in the face. “When mid-March hit, the city sent everybody home and we were off a couple weeks,” said Public Works Superintendent Phil Smith. “When we

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did come back, it was at a reduced rate. Everybody had to wear masks and take temperatures each morning. I had to split my seven-man crew in half so if someone got sick it wouldn’t take the whole crew out.” Director of Public Services Marguerite Davenport reported that the biggest impact to her department has been the continual uncertainty and maintaining services while keeping employees safe. Field crews for water, wastewater, and public works are reporting to work daily with the required use of PPE and social distancing. Marshall's DPS experience during COVID is probably similar to what most Michigan public services departments went through. While hospital workers, teachers, and emergency response personnel get many of the headlines for fighting COVID on the front lines—and rightly so—there are other not-as-publicized heroes as well. They also worked throughout the pandemic providing safe drinking water, plowing snow-covered roads, and running wastewater treatment plants. Marshall's story illustrates the experiences of these remarkable behind-the-scenes frontline workers.

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