The COVID-19 pandemic has tested people and communities in ways never thought possible outside of sci-fi movies. Prior to the pandemic, few had ever heard of “social distancing” and masks were donned pretty much exclusively by medical professionals. As Georgia’s residents settle into this bizarre “new normal,” cities have employed some creative and forward-thinking measures to keep them both safe and served. Here, GMA profiles a few of the many Georgia cities that have gone above and beyond during an exceptionally challenging time.
Powder Springs: Leveled Upward and Outward
During a time when people were forced to pull back from life as they knew it, the city of Powder Springs saw opportunities to move forward. The city took steps to protect employees and others who use its facilities by integrating advanced technology to keep the air clean and safe.
“The technology utilizes specialized tubes that take oxygen molecules from the air and convert them into charged atoms,” said Pam Conner, Powder Springs city manager. “They then cluster around microparticles, surrounding and deactivating harmful substances like airborne mold, bacteria, allergens and viruses.”
This was done expressly with COVID-19 in mind but will surely help to alleviate the spread of other ailments, like influenza and the common cold, said Conner.
Powder Springs also emphasized on engaging the community through social media, especially by promoting remote council meetings. So far, the city’s social media reach has greatly improved compared with pre-pandemic meetings, which were previously attended by only 10 or so residents. “If we had not implemented remote and streamed meetings, our reach would have been around 400 since January,” Conner said.
However, the new process has resulted in 900 live viewers and an additional 600 who have accessed the recordings following the meetings. “We consider this to be one of the silver linings of the cloud we are under at the moment,” Conner added.
Marietta: Kept on ‘Trucking’
Many businesses temporarily shuttered thanks to COVID-19, but cities didn’t have that option as residents rely on critical services, such as sanitation and law enforcement. Marietta, one of the largest citywide governments in the state, came to the realization early that COVID-19 couldn’t be treated like a normal emergency, thanks to its projected longevity.
“We had to harden our infrastructure, services and workforce to get through this,” said Marietta City Manager Bill Bruton, Jr.
To keep chugging along without interruption, Marietta had to rearrange some things physically. “The unique thing that we did was to examine all of our functions and workgroups and then separate them physically so that COVID could not take out any part of our operation,” he explained.
For example, the sanitation service was divided into three sets of crews. Each crew now reports to different locations at the beginning and end of each workday and separate crews never interact.
“If one group had an individual contract COVID and we had to quarantine that crew, we still would have two-thirds of our employees available to continue the service,” said Bruton.
The same was done with every department in the city, including business licensing, power crews, detectives, court, inspectors, finance and so on. “This has worked very well and allowed us to continue with all of our operations even when we have someone infected or suspected of possible infection,” he said.
Marietta was also on the front end of looking out for their employees’ financial and emotional concerns. “Even before the CARES Act, we approved a leave policy that ended up being very similar, giving 14 days’ worth of leave to individuals suspected of having COVID, or who had to be isolated,” Bruton said, also pointing to the city’s additional measures to pay all out of pocket medical expenses for any employee who contracts COVID.
Canton: Bolstered Businesses
In the blink of an eye, restaurants and businesses lost most, if not all, revenue potential due to the COVID-19 shutdown. The city of Canton, which is home to several independently owned businesses, took steps to protect vulnerable restaurateurs from losing their livelihoods. During the period when in-restaurant dining was prohibited, Canton altered the alcohol ordinance to permanently allow the package sale of beer or wine from restaurants with to-go meals.
“It made a big difference for lots of our restaurants to be able to sell a bottle of wine with a meal to-go,” said Billy Peppers, Canton’s city manager.
Canton also waived business license fees and provided occupational tax refunds to businesses with fewer than 50 employees. All told, the city rebated about $175,000 back to local businesses, including car dealers, franchisees, attorneys, chiropractors and cosmetologists.
Canton Downtown Development Authority and Main Street Canton also created a matching gift card purchase program to stimulate local businesses. To participate, individuals could go online and purchase gift cards in $10 increments for any downtown business. Every $10 purchase was matched by the city, so $20,000 in stimulus from consumers with a matching bonus from the city took quite a bit of the sting out of these hard-hit enterprises.
Sugar Hill: Plans for the Future
Eventually, COVID-19 will be a thing of the past. The city of Sugar Hill aims to finish as strong as possible thanks to the creation of the Sugar Hill Economic Recovery Task Force (ERTF). This collection of community representatives was assembled at the mayor and city manager’s request, with the intent of identifying and solving current and potential COVID-related problems. Specifically, the group has created an action plan to establish effective local economic recovery efforts, provide business support and encourage community health measures. The group also has a well-developed community outreach program designed to keep residents in the loop. Ideally, these efforts will mitigate some of the damage that would otherwise be caused by COVID-19, possibly even improving upon the city by encouraging a more cohesive communication and interaction standard.