March 18, 2020 — With the rapidly evolving scenarios associated with the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), City Manager Bill Burrough has issued a Proclamation of Emergency pursuant to State law.
In addition, the Board of Directors adopted an Ordinance at their March 17 meeting delegating additional powers and authority to the City Manager, including the following:
- • To contract purchases or services up to $1 million, provided such purchases are in the adopted budget or are in response to an emergency expenditure in response to the pandemic
- • To establish a curfew
- • To cancel, postpone, reschedule, move, reconvene or make accommodations for any public meeting
- • Manage the in-person, face-to-face interaction between the City’s employees and the public at large by any means he determines reasonable and warranted within the guidelines established by the Centers for Disease Control
The Proclamation of Emergency follows similar such emergency actions declared by the president of the United States, the governor of Arkansas and the Garland County Judge.
As of the afternoon of March 18, the Arkansas Department of Health has confirmed 33 cases of COVID-19 within the state, with two being residents who are self-quarantined in Garland County. The City Manager has been among the city and county leaders, health professionals and first-responder representatives to cooperatively plan and respond to the pandemic. Multiple drive-thru evaluation clinics are being established, as well as a local call center, which are among the mitigation efforts.
For more information and for updates from the task force and relating to the community’s response, visit http://www.cityhs.net/covid-19.