BUCKHANNON – Buckhannon City Hall will reopen Tuesday with reduced staffing levels.

City information coordinator and grant writer Callie Cronin Sams on Monday evening updated a press release sent out early Monday morning stating that City Hall would be closed both Monday and Tuesday, Jan. 4-5 due to a COVID-19 exposure.

City Hall will now reopen Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021 with fewer staff members.  

On Monday evening, Buckhannon mayor Robbie Skinner confirmed that just one city hall employee had tested positive for the coronavirus but said closing down city hall was necessary to prevent further spread of the virus.

“Because the office employees work in such close quarters, we would rather be safe than sorry and have everybody tested instead of running the risk of spreading it throughout the building,” Skinner said.

Closing Monday also gave the city the opportunity to have work stations and communal surfaces sanitized, Skinner said.

“City Hall has been, and will continue to be, thoroughly sanitized,” the mayor said. “Once we reopen, we want our staff, and the public at large, to feel safe when they enter the building.”

“The City of Buckhannon remains committed to fulfilling our commitment to provide high-quality, uninterrupted services to our citizens and business owners during this time,” he continued. “City hall is not the first area of our city organization where we’ve seen positive cases. In fact, just about every department has seen at least one positive case, but with each positive case, regardless of the area of our organization, all [necessary] safety protocols were taken to ensure both employee and public safety and wellness.”

Sams noted that despite Tuesday’s plans to reopen city hall, any resident who wishes to conduct business may do so via the internet and telephone.

Utilities can be paid by calling 1-866-933-4026, paying online here, or dropping your payment in the drop box behind City Hall.

Service requests for the Waste Department and Streets and Parks Department can be made online using the iWorq Citizen Engagement app here: http://buckhannonwv.org/residents/citizen-engagement/.