The Manitowoc Common Council approved the extension of a couple of COVID-19 related items at their meeting on Monday.
During his weekly City of Manitowoc Update on Thursday, Manitowoc Mayor Justin Nickels explained that the first was extending the State of Emergency that he had implemented back in March.
Nickels said the reason is two-fold.
“One, it allows myself to make some decisions, if we need to, very quickly, without requiring City Council approval,” he explained. “This would be if things shut down again, or if we need to make decisions about allowing employees to work from home. The second reason is to apply for any state or federal grants that might become available because of the pandemic.”
The other was the City Mask Mandate.
“This is just for City facilities,” the mayor said. “The most important reason is to protect our City employees. We have a responsibility, the City Council and myself, to make sure that employees have a safe working environment, and extending the mask mandate for them, and those they may come in contact with is very important.”
The Mayor also said it was to ensure “citizens could come to places like City Hall or the Senior Center,” however the Rahr-West Art Museum and the Library do still have to remain closed for public safety reasons.
Mayor Nickels did offer to answer any questions citizens may have. Simply call his office at 920-686-6980.
Mayor Nickels is on 107.9 FM WOMT and 97.1 FM WCUB, as well as at WOMTRadio.com and CubRadio.com every Thursday with a new City of Manitowoc Update at 8:05 AM.
