The City of Benicia will begin to partially reopen city facilities on June 1.

BENICIA – Benicia is beginning to reopen city facilities slowly but surely.

“I’m very pleased to announce that we are planning to offer modified services to the community starting on Monday, June 1, 2020,” said Benicia City Manager Lorie Tinfow.

The modifications include changes to program and service delivery and changes to the physical environment of several City facilities as we are very focused on the safety of our employees and community members, and on reducing the risk of COVID-19 exposure. Social distancing will be in place and face coverings required for indoor interactions where there is close proximity to others. Below are some of the expected changes:

– The Benicia Public Library will begin by providing curbside service meaning that materials can be ordered online by the public and the staff will assemble the requested materials and deliver to the curb for patrons to pick up. (Libraries are considered high risk activities by the State and remain on the list of closed facilities.) The Library is also planning to expand its digital services and the Benicia Library Foundation has approved a grant of $50,000 to support this effort. The City Council will hear more about the generous grant and new services at its meeting on June 2.

– Most City Hall work spaces are small and enclosed, and make social distancing difficult, so to help reduce exposure to COVID-19 the City will move to having a single point of access with a central point of reception for all visitors via the eastern door upstairs (closest to the Post Office, near the Mayor’s office). Physical barriers such as those now used in grocery stores will be in place. Utility bills and business license transactions will be processed there. Visitors will be greeted at the reception point and appropriate staff located elsewhere in City Hall will be contacted to receive their visitors. Plan review, permitting, etc., services will be offered by appointment-this will remove the queueing downstairs and, is hoped to improve service to businesses and community members.

“Drive-by permitting is working well and will continue,” said Tinfow. “Further investment into online services will continue.”

To facilitate larger meeting space that allows for social distancing, the City will further explore plans to remove the fixed seating in the Council Chamber and replace with movable (and more comfortable) chairs and folding tables.

The City is also planning to set up picnic tables outdoors to serve as an employee breakroom since the current spaces are too small to allow adequate social distancing. The space could also be used for outdoor meetings.

– Community Center and Recreation Programs. The City will also institute barriers and social distance requirements in the Community Center and are still determining which programs can be safely offered.

“There will likely be fewer and those that are allowed will likely have smaller class sizes,” said Tinfow. “We are also looking at ways to move the classes (as appropriate) outdoors.”

Summer camps for kids are not planned for now; but the City will review the circumstances on at least a monthly basis to see if they can safely be offered in future months. The pool remains closed until permitted by Public Health officials.

– Rentals and Special Events. Rentals of City facilities have been canceled through June and the City is reviewing cancellations on at least a monthly basis. City-sponsored special events through July have been canceled and more event cancellations by the City or other organizations through the summer are expected. For example, National Night Out previously set for Aug. 4 has been canceled by the national organization and tentatively rescheduled for Oct. 6.

“As you can see, we are moving slowly to begin offering programs and services, and access to City facilities,” said Tinfow. “We are doing our best to balance providing service with maintaining your and the employees’ safety.”

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