Laguna Beach City Hall reopened to the public with new safeguards on Monday following a 12-week closure prompted by coronavirus fears.
Since Gov. Gavin Newsom’s initial stay-at-home order in March, city employees have been working from home and behind the locked doors at city hall.
City employees and members of the public did not return to a city landmark unchanged by the virus. Everyone visiting city hall must first check-in with an employee to have their body temperature read and will be asked if they’ve recently experienced a cough, shortness of breath, chills, sore throat, or loss of taste and smell. All visitors also must wear face masks while they’re in the building and city employees must cover their faces when they’re within six feet of another person.
Plexiglass windows have been installed at each public window and markers have been placed on the floor to measure out six-foot distancing. No more than four people are allowed in the Community Development lobby area at one time.
City Hall be open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. for up to two weeks to allow staff to catch up on work and to incorporate new safety protocols to keep the public and employees healthy, City Manager John Pietig said in a prepared statement.
“It should be noted that although City Hall is reopening, City Council meetings are still being held virtually and do not allow for in-person attendance until further notice,” Pietig said. “Thank you for your patience as we transition to working in this new environment.”
At the requests of Mayor Pro Tem Steve Dicterow and Councilmember Toni Iseman, the City Council will consider a hybrid format Tuesday for future meetings where the public can either share public comments via Zoom or stand in line to speak at a microphone in the Council Chambers and then exit the building.
City staffers noted participation in the Zoom meetings has tripled since Laguna Beach first used the videoconferencing service in April, according to a staff report. During the April 7 council meeting, 135 callers participated in the call. Last month, 358 and 317 participants respectively called into the May 12 and May 26 council meetings.
