Dunkirk takes COVID precautions

DUNKIRK — With its mayor testing positive for coronavirus and cases rising in Jay County, the city is taking steps to protect its employees.

Monday’s Dunkirk City Council meeting was run by council president Jesse Bivens, as Mayor Jack Robbins will be in quarantine until Wednesday.

The three clerk’s office employees, including clerk-treasurer Tina Elliott, were also tested for coronavirus with all coming back negative. However, Elliott has decided to close the Dunkirk City Building to the public until further notice. The employees will still be in the office, so residents can contact the clerk’s office via phone and use the drop box to pay their bills.

“We’re going to lock the door again until this slows down,” Elliott said after the council meeting. “We’re not neglecting our city, but we’re protecting our city.”

She noted that the city would not be able to run smoothly if too many employees contract the virus. 

Jay County has 152 new cases of COVID-19 in the first eight days of November, an average of 19 per day. It averaged 7.1 cases per day in October.

At their meeting Monday, council members also heard plans for a walking trail around Dunkirk City Park.  

The park department will install a gravel trail starting from West Jay Community Center that will go around the baseball and softball diamonds to Haskell Road and then to Highland Avenue.

The exact path of the trail, which will likely be put in place in the spring, hasn’t been determined yet.

Council member Tom Johnson said the park department asked that the gravel be purchased this year while the money is in the budget. Council approved transferring $7,000 from the concession food fund and $2,000 from the park’s water and sewage fund to purchase the gravel.

Johnson said the plan is to eventually pave the path and connect it to the sidewalk that is slated for installation next year on Highland Avenue between Johnson Street and Speedcat Alley.  

In other business, council members Bryan Jessup, Kevin Hamilton, Bivens and Johnson, absent Lisa Street:

•Approved transferring the $73,564.42 the city received from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act to the general fund.

•Set up payment plans for two local residents who have experienced water leaks.

•Approved payments of $10,624.99 to Brown Equipment Co. for repairs to the city’s vacuum truck, $1,312.52 for water department supplies, $1,798 for two armored vests and $644.48 for uniforms for the new Dunkirk Police Department officers, $700 to Newsome’s Tree and Stump Removal for a removing a tree on Franklin Street. Normally these payments are approved by Dunkirk Board of Works, but Monday’s meeting was canceled because of Robbins’ quarantine.

•Heard that the city’s trunk-or-treat Halloween event was a success, with many residents asking for the event to be repeated next year.

•Paid claims of $714,698.34.