From the Office of CITY OF MASON – JOHN PALACIO

The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) and the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) have been closely working together with numerous state health agencies to provide the public with educational materials on how to stay safe with regard to COVID-19.  

At this time, there is no vaccine to prevent COVID-19, however, there are precautionary measure that will help to minimize or even avoid the contraction of the coronavirus:

·       Frequently wash hands with soap for a duration of at least 20 seconds;

·       Cover mouth with a clean tissue or inside of elbow when coughing or sneezing;

·       Avoid close contact with people who are sick;

·       Stay home if flu-like symptoms are present, as well as, drink plenty of fluids;

·       Visit local clinic as necessary.

For more information about the prevention and treatment programs, please visit the Center of Disease Control website – www.cdc.gov – or the Texas Department of State Health Services website – www.dshs.texas.gov/coronavirus . 

It is critical that we AVOID panic!  Please continue to check this website for local updates, should there be a need for Mason County and City of Mason to take further action. 

     The news continues to be challenging with fresh developments in the coronavirus situation almost daily.  The City is working with the County, law enforcement, medical personnel and EMS to provide the best guidance for our community and we will continue to reevaluate and consider updated information regularly.  The City Commission met in a special meeting last week on Wednesday afternoon to discuss two items that have been impacted by the challenges of social distancing, and although a decision was not reached on setting a firm municipal election date there was discussion and action to help residents that might be financially impacted by work decisions with their upcoming utility bills.  The Commission approved the proposal that utility customers would have all late fees, disconnect and reconnect fees and any credit card fees waived, that no one would be disconnected at this time for being unable to pay all utility bills, and to allow a deferral of a portion of utility bills for affected customers.  It is anticipated that customers pay as much as possible prior to the due date and the balance will be rolled over to the next month, however it is important that everyone understand that we cannot forgive a utility payment and all payments due will eventually need to be paid.  One recommendation is for customers to make payments on a weekly basis when possible to keep later bills from becoming impossibly large.  One other important consideration is that the City utility bills are based on each customer’s usage, so in order to keep your bill from being too large we are encouraging everyone to be very mindful of your use of electricity and water and avoid any extra use, for instance opening windows on these beautiful days rather than running the air conditioning.  This procedure for handling utility bills is a short-term way to assist our customers that are financially impacted by the coronavirus, but it should be understood that it is temporary and will be reevaluated at the May meeting of the City Commission.  Commissioner Sue Pledger has also written about these issues in her Commissioner’s Comments that is printed in this paper, so for additional information and a different way of telling the story please see her article. 

     The City Commission is planning to meet again on Monday, April 6 to address additional issues that need to have decisions soon.  The meeting is currently planned to be held at the Eckert Civic Center, however with the social distancing there will be very limited seating for the public but it will be broadcast on KHLB 102.5 radio and livestreamed on Facebook by them.  You are encouraged to tune in if you want to keep up with the local issues and discussions, and there will be a phone number provided if you would like to call in and provide your public comments.  The agenda may be expanded, but at this time it will include a final decision on the schedule for the municipal election, whether May 2 or November 3 as provided by the Governor’s proclamation.  There are a few other items of regular business, and one issue of particular importance as we consider the contractor bids that will have been received prior to the meeting for the excavation, dirt work, roadways and paving for the new landfill.  These portions of the construction of that project will constitute the largest financial cost of the project and will need to be carefully considered, while there is also a need to make a timely decision so that the project can move forward to stay on schedule as much as possible and provide a solution for our local trash issues.   Another serious consideration is that the method for meeting at that time may change to a phone conference approach, depending on the local changes in dealing with the coronavirus and our social interactions.  We will continue to update the City website to provide updated information during the coming week, so if you are interested in being involved in that meeting please check that source or call the City office at 347-6449 for information. 

     While there are quite a few things that might be said about the current news and adjustments for the coronavirus locally and nationally, as I have said before by the time this paper is in your hands it is likely that most things that I might say will already be out-of-date.  The EMS is working hard to meet all of the needs of our community and regularly has two crews and ambulances available to deal with emergencies, however if you do not have a true emergency please use other ways to seek medical help so that they can deal with what is critical in these difficult times.  Also, do not worry, I have not had a fall or heart attack, if you see an ambulance in front of our B&B it is because some of the out of town EMS crews that are in town part time are staying in our empty rooms.  The School is working hard to meet as much of the student needs as possible and seems to be doing a great job, and they will determine how much more closed time they will impose by the time you are reading this.  The County Judge and I are continuing to consider the stay-at-home orders that other cities and Counties are imposing, and our plan is to keep aware of the changes but not impose this on our citizens until it seems to be truly called for.  We are practicing the advice we ask our community to heed, “stay calm and work to stay healthy.”