Moorpark City Facilities To Re-Open For Appointments On February 8 Following Coronavirus Closure

Press release from the City of Moorpark:

February 2, 2021

You may recall that we made the difficult decision to close City facilities effective January 11, after several of our employees tested positive for COVID-19. With only approximately 50 full-time employees at the City, we had to focus on preventing a larger outbreak in order to sustain our ability to provide services at all. I want to thank the entire Moorpark community for its patience and understanding as we have been operating in a safer, but admittedly less efficient, work-from-home model for the past three weeks.

I am pleased to report that all afflicted employees have recovered from COVID-19, and City staff will begin working inside City facilities again beginning Monday, February 8. To maintain as safe an environment as possible, all employees returning to City facilities from work-from-home will be tested for COVID-19 before being allowed into the building. Additionally, we will be open to the public for limited appointments only, to prevent lines in our lobbies and to give us time to clean our counters in between customers. Although new COVID-19 cases have dropped from their peak levels in December and January, Ventura County continues to experience many hundreds of new cases every day. Thus, we continue to encourage people to conduct business with the City through our Virtual Counter (www.moorparkca.gov/VirtualCounter) or by calling us at (805) 517-6200.

I also want to publicly recognize and thank the City staff for their efforts during this period of remote work. During our remote work period, additional City staff members were diagnosed with COVID-19, and working remotely prevented a larger outbreak and ensured our continued ability to provide services. Although some of our permitting and other processes were slowed, we were able to muster City staff to fully respond to the windstorm and power outages in mid-January. When the power went out, our Public Works team was ready to shuttle batteries between traffic signals and generators. When the winds knocked down trees, our Landscape Maintenance team cleared them from streets. When a tree fell into one of our community’s condominiums, our building inspectors were ready to inspect them for safety and structural stability.

While City staff will again be in City Hall starting next week, we are not out of the woods yet. We do not want to be in the unfortunate situation to force another closure of City facilities due to an outbreak. Many hundreds of Ventura County residents are still being diagnosed with COVID-19 every day, so it is incumbent upon all of us to act responsibly and safely in the weeks and months ahead. Please do so and please be well.

Sincerely,

Troy BrownCity Manager

This press release was produced by the City of Moorpark. The views expressed here are the author’s own.