The Review Magazine May / June 2021

Impacted Services: Water & Wastewater Through it all, the dark specter of COVID-19 loomed

Back at City Hall… City Hall closed, except by appointment, for tasks unable to be completed over the phone or online. Office staff worked remotely, with desk phones forwarded to personal phones to maintain the same level of service and response times. “We increased our outreach via social media and information posted on our website [to reassure] residents that all essential work continued to be performed to maintain safe and adequate services,” said Director Marguerite Davenport. But some work just can’t go home. “The cemetery records are huge, multiple books that can’t be hauled back and forth. It’s a safety issue,” said Smith. “These are history records that go back to our earliest recorded burial in 1833. They’re like something out of a Harry Potter movie— 20-plus big burial books A-Z with Mr. Jones buried in this lot on this date from this cause, then who owns what spot, what’s available. I can’t put all that in my car and take it home.” The Future Requires Adaption and Change What lies ahead is anyone’s guess. But Michigan's municipalities are up for the challenge. “We certainly are planning ahead on the off-chance we have to follow the same protocols this year. But we’ve learned. Some things we’ve done a certain way just because we’ve done them that way for years. Now we’ve found ways that are more beneficial or at a cost savings,” said Smith. “Like Zoom meetings. We don’t always have to get in a city vehicle, drive down

overhead. “We had one employee who got COVID-19 twice. He was hospitalized for a brief period and then was off for three months at the beginning of the pandemic,” said Water Superintendent Aaron Ambler. “Plus, we’ve had at least three who had to be quarantined for a period of time because they had close contact with a family member or someone else who got it.” With only three on Ambler’s staff, those personnel losses were significant. “We made it through, but it was touch and go for a while,” he said. “Being down so many employees means having to miss out on proactive work. It was a struggle to get to just what needed to get done and not anything extra.” When Wastewater Superintendent Alec Egnatuk had two staffers out on quarantine at the same time, the remaining two had to work overtime to cover the daily schedule. “We have to have someone here every day of the year. So, we were lucky it only happened that one time,” said Egnatuk. Two quarantines occurred on Smith’s crew, too. Then one full-timer left and another retired in the same month. “That was another two hurdles on top of a hurdle. Going through that process in a pandemic is more than

a challenge,” said Smith. “We had to very carefully set some things in place just to go through interviews. Everyone was socially distanced with masks and the

room cleaned after every interview. Where you’d do multiple interviews in one day normally, this process took several days.”

to a public building and sit in an office just to have a ten-minute meeting.” Ambler agreed. “It’s pushed us to be more digital, and in certain aspects that’s a

good thing. Field crews now have tablets they take out in the field so they’re

26 THE REVIEW

MAY / JUNE 2021

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