The Appleton Common Council met 04/21/2021. During this meeting, Mayor Woodford spoke about the city’s plans to return to in-person operations. This was in response to a question that Alderperson Chad Doran (District 15) had raised earlier that day in a conversation with the mayor.
They are eyeing June 1 as the date all city employees will be back at their in-person work locations. Masking will still continue until the guidance from higher up changes.
Mayor Woodford said that the city is taking a slow and measured approach to their return to the workplace. They’ve had employees working in the field in their vehicles, from home, and at regular workstations over the course of the pandemic, and, wherever they have been located they’ve been making a great effort to serve the city and our community. He was appreciative of city employees and their perseverance through these complicated times.
They’re looking forward to welcoming more city employees back to their regular workplaces but they don’t consider this a “return to work” because they have been working throughout the pandemic. The mayor was proud that, in collaboration with the previous Common Council, the city retained all of its employees throughout the pandemic and did not need to lay anyone off.
They started their phased return to in-person work back on March 15 with a limited return to work places on a scheduled basis at the departmental level. On May 3rd, they will begin encouraging all employees to return to their work spaces. They’re trying to stagger those returns as access to vaccines have ramped up. He noted that, from an IT perspective, it’s important that they don’t rush everyone back into their work spaces because many people have taken equipment home and changed the way they’ve conducted their work. They’re trying to make sure that they manage their capacity to get people up and running once they are back in their regular workspaces.
By June 1st their expectation is that all city employees will be back in their regular workspaces and that the city will return to pre-pandemic remote work policies.
They believe their plan is measured and is flexible and they continue to monitor the conditions on the ground in the city. They’ll be mindful of that as they work their way through their return to in-person work. They will also be paying close attention to virus activity among employees in the two week periods following the various phases of this plan.
Over the course of the pandemic, the city’s facilities team has worked to improve the safety of workspaces throughout city facilities through the addition of air filtration systems, ionization systems, and the installation of barriers where appropriate, as well as spacing out workspaces and desks. He said it’s been a huge undertaking on the part of the facilities team to get the city’s facilities ready to welcome employees back.
He added that they will continue masks indoors at city facilities but will watch for updates to guidance on that which will guide their own internal policies.
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=853491&GUID=7683F31F-266E-4E28-ACA6-6B593992635A&Options=info|&Search=
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