‘Spirit of the city,’ town staff praised

(4/17) Mayor Wantz told the Taneytown Council at their April 8 meeting that the continued dedication of town employees in doing their jobs during the COVID-19 infestation reflects upon the city.

“I want to thank all the city staff right now, especially IT (Information Technology) for their work in making this (virtual meeting) happen tonight. It was kind of a whirlwind for them to make it happen... They did a great job,” Mayor Wantz said.

“All the city staff has really done a tremendous job. All those who are now working remotely from home, those who have to come because what they do is essential. I think it says a lot about the spirit of the city, that our employees are so dedicated that they can get to work in these conditions at this time,” the mayor noted.

The town is continuing to conduct virtual town meetings, to avoid having all the council members, or even the public, converging on the town hall for meetings, that, had it not been for the COVID-19 epidemic, would have been held in-house.

“With the COVID-19 epidemic going on, the town is continuing to conduct business as normal as possible,” he said.

Wantz stated, “If this (public meeting restrictions) continues into May, which it looks like it may very well do that, we're going to figure out a way to conduct the appropriate public hearings regarding the budget tax rate and sewer rates.”

The mayor said he would like to remind residents “to please adhere to Governor (Larry) Hogan's 'stay at home' order. This is really crucial that we can get this pandemic over with and get on to a more normal life. But if we have people gathering in large groups, and not staying at home, not adhering to social distancing, it's really making this harder for everyone else.”

“If you go out to a grocery store, please only get what you need. You don’t need 30 packs of toilet paper. Get what you need so others can have a chance to get it as well,” Wantz said. “We're all in this together. I think it's important for the community that we continue being a community in this sort of time, instead of every man for himself.”

In other business, the mayor noted that consideration of adoption of budget-related ordinances and resolutions, including the proposed operating budget, tax rate, water and sewer rate, and water allocation, have been postponed into May, since they require public hearings and the technical issues behind accomplishing that are still being worked out.

Read other news articles on Taneytown