MARSHFIELD, WI (WSAU-WDLB) — City Hall in Marshfield still has limited access, because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
That’s what members of the Common Council were told Tuesday night, as aldermen granted City Administrator Steve Barg another 60 days to regulate or restrict access to city buildings and facilities. That authority was extended to March 23 by the Council on a vote of 9-1. Alderman Adam Fischer voted against the measure.
Barg told the Council City Hall still has limited access, and it’s gone well, for the most part. “We hope that we’re not far off from perhaps being able to relax things with the vaccine coming up now and some of the cases dropping. But we’re not there yet certainly.”
Right now, the only access citizens have at city hall is by appointment or a telephone in the lobby that rings the city clerk’s office. Barg said there has not been a lot of feedback from the public, or complaints, regarding the limited access.
“I have not really heard a lot and I have not heard a lot from our staff that we’re getting complaints. There are still people, I’ll be honest with you, that want to meet face to face. And we’ve had our staff members come out and talk to people in the lobby briefly.
“So it’s not like we’ve had no contact. But I think we’ve had good success in at least reducing the amount of contact we’ve had with people.”
City Clerk Deb Hall said citizens have adapted very well to the changes at City Hall. “Staff is very accommodating to those residents that do need some one-on-one contact. They make appointments and we meet with them face to face. So things have been working very well.”
And with five elections in the city in 2020, Hall said the city — and its voters — are well equipped for another election season that’s just ahead over the next few months.
“We had record numbers of people requesting absentee ballots. And for a normal primary February, we’re lucky if we get 10 to 15% voter turnout. We already have close to 900 people that want absentee ballots. So the process is out there, people understand it.”
Barg said the city has made inroads in getting people to do their business with the city in other ways, saying that “we’ve seen citizens adapt in some pretty impressive ways”.
