Havre de Grace City Hall To Reopen

HAVRE DE GRACE, MD — Residents who want to pay their water or tax bills in person will be able to do so in March in Havre de Grace, according to the mayor.

City officials plan to have employees back in City Hall before the end of February. The building has been closed to the public due to the coronavirus pandemic.

First, employees will return, according to Mayor William Martin.

"We're going to bring everybody back next week," Martin said at this week's City Council meeting. "The goal is to open City Hall to the public by Monday, March 1."

In addition to opening for residents to pay their bills and apply for permits, the municipal building on Pennington Avenue will be open for City Council meetings, the mayor added.

"There's a council meeting on Monday, March 1," Martin said.

"We will have limited seating because we'll have the seats spread out for social distancing," Martin said. "Of course that's if things continue to trend the way they are."

In Harford County, state health officials say 12,168 cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed as of Thursday, Feb. 18. In addition, authorities report 227 Harford County residents have died from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.

"If there's an uptick" or shift in coronavirus trends, the mayor said, "we'll take it from there."

The case rate is 14.43 per 100,000 in Harford County and 14.42 per 100,000 statewide, according to state health data. Data shows the rate of new cases has been declining in recent weeks.

Data shows Harford County's case rate peaked on Nov. 22, 2020, when it was 47.26 per 100,000.

If the case rate exceeds 25 per 100,000, community spread has accelerated and is at dangerous levels, according to the Harvard Global Health Institute. If it is above 10 per 100,000, officials say community spread is out of control and may require infection-curbing measures.

Positivity rates should be at or below 5 percent for two weeks for an area to relax restrictions, according to the World Health Organization.

The coronavirus positivity rate in Harford County is 4.87 percent on a rolling, seven-day average, while the statewide rate is 4.13 percent, the Maryland Department of Health reported Thursday.

"It's our greatest desire to get this building of the people open up to the people as soon as we can," Martin said at the council meeting Tuesday, Feb. 16. "So mark it on your calendars — if you need any business from City Hall, we're going to try to be open to the public March 1."

See Also:

• Havre de Grace Coronavirus Case Rate Drops Week Over Week: Data
• Havre de Grace Is Coronavirus Hot Spot: Harford Health Officer