VIENNA — Vienna City Hall is once again open to the public on weekdays and staffed by City Clerk Sherry James.

At the city council’s May meeting, in new business, the council discussed how to deal with the coronavirus at the city level.

Mayor Tyler “TC” James said Phelps-Maries Health Department Director Ashley Wann said it would be okay to open city hall, do necessary, continued cleaning and ask customers to stay at least six feet away from the clerk’s desk. The courthouse is once again open to the public but Missouri remains under a state of emergency order until June 15. The council members said they could limit the number of people at city hall at one time. Clerk James said she does not think this will be a problem. Mayor James said they need to handle this with common sense.

South Ward Alderman Jesse Jones said The Maries County Bank will reopen the lobbies at its locations in a couple of weeks.

South Ward Alderwoman Brenda Davis told city employees they need to do what is needed to feel safe. Utilities Superintendent Shon Westart said he and Jim Sandbothe are trying to work this out but so much of what they do they are close together while they work. Davis said if someone with bad symptoms comes into city hall, they need to ask them to leave. “Protect yourself,” she said. They talked about building a partition of some sort to protect the city clerk.

Mayor James said Maries County was given over $1 million to pay expenses related to COVID-19. Presiding Commissioner Victor Stratman contacted him and said the city can apply for assistance by submitting “bills” to the county and the county will pay the city. This also includes Belle. The expenses have to be directly related to the coronavirus such as overtime because of the virus, caution tape, hand sanitizer, and anything they spend because of the virus. The mayor questioned whether or not they can buy a laptop for the city clerk to use when she has to work from home because of the virus. Davis questioned if the money could be used to reimburse virus-related administrative leave. The county and MRPC reportedly are working on a reimbursement form. The city plans to document everything it bought because of the virus. James said Stratman asked the city to submit its reimbursement information to the county on a monthly basis, coordinating this with County Clerk Rhonda Rodgers.

Clerk James said the city’s software for accounting and payroll is almost done and soon she will need everything new and will need to upgrade to a new operating system. She uses a desktop computer that is over 10 years old. It is slow, she said. Davis suggested the city purchase a laptop with a docking station she can use to work from home on the laptop. Jones, who is an IT professional, said he is going to look at the clerk’s computer and thinks her computer, currently using Windows 7, may not take Windows 10. She probably needs to upgrade to a new computer as well.

The council closed the playground, pavilion, tennis and basketball courts, restrooms, and ball fields at the city park until May 22 when they will reevaluate the order. Their evaluation will be based on the number of coronavirus cases, especially if the number in this area has spiked. The following day more police tape was put up, making it obvious people are not to use those areas. Police Chief Shannon Thompson said this will be enforced.

At the meeting after the council approved keeping the ball fields closed until May 22, it was noted some of the coaches will not like this. Davis said she does not want people to think this is an infringement on their freedom. “It’s our responsibility to protect the community,” she said.

The Vienna Senior Center and the Tackett Trail walking trail at the park remain open.

The council gave its approval for Heartland Library Director Lisa Garro to put up a Storywalk at the walking trail. She would put up laminated pages from children’s books and the kids can walk from storyboard to storyboard along the trail. Davis said they don’t want to invite people to come and interact. Mayor James said there would be no reason to touch the storyboards and they don’t want this. Garro wants to have the Storywalk all summer.

A lot of people are using the Tackett Trail. Westart suggested sanitizing stations and also dog waste stations.