On Friday, March 13, the State of Illinois and the federal government took unprecedented steps to stem the spread of COVID-19 (Coronavirus). While there remain no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in DeKalb County, the worldwide outbreak is beginning to directly impact our community as schools and other mass gatherings close.
The City’s leadership team met on Friday and discussed the potential impacts on the delivery of services to our community. The City will make every effort to avoid disruption of essential services during this time of uncertainty. Currently, there are no plans to close City Hall or other public offices of the City. While our doors will remain open, please understand that staffing levels may be impacted as employees deal with unanticipated childcare needs or are unable to report to work for other reasons. In any event, our goal is to continue providing services as efficiently and effectively as possible.
We invite the community to explore our website and utilize the various online resources for communicating and conducting business with the City. If you must visit one of our offices to conduct business, know that we are taking extra measures to keep our workplace clean and healthy. We ask visitors to utilize healthy habits and make use of hand sanitizer placed in public areas. If you are ill, please do not visit public places. If you are unsure whether a visit to City offices is necessary, our Customer Service Representatives will be happy to assist you over the phone during regular business hours by calling 815-748-2000.
Public meetings of the City Council and Planning & Zoning Commission will continue; however, we encourage the public to participate in those meetings “virtually.” Those meetings can be viewed live on cable channel 14 and YouTube. Additionally, the City is working to launch a new Virtual Speaker Request Form, which will provide the public with the opportunity to submit public comments that can be shared with the Council or Commission in advance of a meeting.
We encourage the community to continue following the guidance of state and federal health officials and to seek information from reputable sources.