CONWAY -- City and county officials in Conway have found a rhythm in attempting to keep the wheels turning and residents safe in the face of a worldwide pandemic that has forced municipalities and county governments to partially shut down.
"We're all in this together," said Jim Baker, county judge of Faulkner County. "Ain't no Lone Ranger in this show. We're all trying to adapt."
As of the latest count from the Arkansas Department of Health, 55 Faulkner County residents have tested positive for the coronavirus. There has been one death from the virus in the county -- DeVonte Sargent, 25, who died April 2.
Both Conway and Faulkner County government buildings have been closed or public entrance is restricted; a large number of employees continue to work from home; court cases are delayed; and the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce office remains shuttered.
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"We're still operating our city remotely," said Mayor Bart Castleberry. "We're still carrying on business and have meetings through Zoom. We're trying to do our part of social distancing. It's kind of a different operation and we know some people get frustrated, but we are doing what we have to do."
Castleberry said the trails remain open in the city, but all city playgrounds are closed and the city's Zagster bike-sharing program has been halted.
"I'm proud to be the mayor of Conway because of the great people here. We have some people that do an exceptional job at social distancing and some do an OK job while others don't do a good job of it at all," Castleberry said. "I wish people would understand that this falls back to the individual, too. If you don't think you should be out there, then stay home."
Baker said officials are keeping the lines of communications open with Gov. Asa Hutchinson and keeping up with other counties to hear how they are addressing the virus's challenges.
"We've learned a lot through everything," Baker said. "The county is still in business. We're operating under a need-to basis, but everything is functioning. You can access the offices under appointments only. We have employees working remotely and some coming into the office each day."
Services like trash pickup and sanitation will not be disrupted, Castleberry said. Citywide curbside recycling and glass pickup have been suspended, but residents can self-recycle at the city's sanitation facility from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. The recycling must be sorted and separated manually by the resident to ensure responsible social distancing.
Baker said the spay and neuter clinic the county uses for its animal shelter services has been closed.
"They just felt it was best that they put things off for now and are only responding to emergencies," Baker said.
Castleberry said the city has taken further measures to address issues that are caused by the city's and state's restrictions because of the pandemic.
While the restaurants are shut down, Castleberry suspended zoning and ordinance restrictions to allow restaurants to sell bulk supplies such as food ingredients, cleaning supplies and paper goods. Hotels are now allowed to sell supplies such as cleaning solutions and soap directly to the public.
The city also waived zoning temporarily so Conway Regional Medical Center could transform its fitness center into a day care for the children of medical personnel.
"We're continuing our spending and hiring freeze we enacted four weeks ago," Castleberry said. "I've asked individual council members to meet with department heads and go back through their budgets to see where we can save."
Faulkner County District Court is still regularly conducting first appearances to set bail for those arrested on criminal charges, but other court proceedings are delayed until the state Supreme Court lifts a ban against in-person hearings.
Chris Carnahan, district judge for Faulkner and Van Buren counties, said he is posting a video copy of the first appearances to his Facebook page so that family members and loved ones will be "able to at least see the defendants and know what their bond is."
Fine payments can be made online or through money order.
"Normal criminal magistrate type functions are proceeding as usual. Technology has greatly helped with items like search warrants, etc.," Carnahan said. "While normal operations are suspended for things like community work service, community career education, weekend jail time, etc., those obligations will resume once the Supreme Court has determined that it is safe for us to operate normally."
Metro on 04/09/2020