Late Wednesday afternoon, the city of East Ridge issued a Civil Emergency and Proclamation Order regarding additional safety precautions and business restrictions. In addition to an earlier proclamation that closed gyms, fitness centers, and limited restaurants to carry-out or drive through orders only, East Ridge will now be requiring all non-essential businesses to temporarily close. This proclamation will take effect at 11 p.m. on Thursday.
“This order basically does not permit services which require close contact,” said Chris Dorsey, East Ridge city manager. “This includes businesses such as spas, beauty salons, tattoo parlors, and tanning salons. Businesses that cannot regulate social distancing requirements are also restricted, such as movie theaters, concert venues, and retail shopping malls.”
East Ridge City Mayor Brian Williams added that any business considered essential, such as “brick and mortar stores,” grocery stores, drug stores, and service stations, will remain open but are asked to follow safe social distance requirements with their customers.
This includes maintaining reasonable efforts to keep customers six feet apart and frequent use of sanitizing products on common surfaces.
All public and private gatherings of more than 10 people occurring outside a household are prohibited until further notice.
For more information, go to the City of East Ridge website at www.eastridgetn.gov or contact City Hall at 423-867-7711.
Also, city of East Ridge officials announced that they are issuing a public notice in accordance with Governor Bill Lee's Executive Order No.16 permitting participation of City Council members by electronic or other means of communication. It will be Thursday at 6 p.m.
Public access to the physical location of the City Council meeting is limited solely to the following individuals:
1) Mayor and City Council Members 2) City Manager and Assistant City Manager 3) City Attorney 4) City Finance Director 5) City Recorder.
A copy of the City Council Meeting's Agenda is available at the city's website at www.eastridgetn.gov.
Since there will be no opportunity for live citizen comments during the meeting, any citizen desiring to address the City Council may submit his or her comments via E-mail to the following address: mayor@eastridgetn.gov. Emails will only be accepted from East Ridge Citizens on Thursday between the hours of 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
All emails must have the name and address clearly identified in the correspondence. The city will make sure that all emails are made available to members of the City Council, but the City Council will use discretion concerning reading emails not related to city business or do not meet ethical or moral standards.
The video of the March 26 City Council Meeting will be accessible via YouTube on Friday at the following City website link: http://eastridgetn.gov/Government/Meetings-Notices/City Video-Archive.aspx.
Public access to the City Council meeting will be available electronically with video/audible live access to the meeting. The public may access the meeting electronically with the following instructions: Live access via Facebook Live. Sign into Facebook at www.facebook.com. In the search bar, type "City of East Ridge - Government". Click on the link for the live meeting.
Also, the city of Lakesite issued a joint Civil Emergency Proclamation and Executive Order in response to the Coronavirus outbreak. The order follows Governor Lee’s Executive Order 17, issued to mitigate the spread of Covid-19.
Executive Order 17 prohibits social gatherings of 10 or more people and also enacts the following provisions regarding restaurants, bars, and similar food and drink establishments:
Restaurants are to exclusively offer drive-thru, take-out or delivery options to support families, businesses and the food supply chain during this emergency. Establishments may sell alcohol by take-out or delivery (with the purchase of food) in closed containers to those who are age 21 and up.
Gyms and fitness/exercise centers or substantially similar facilities are to temporarily close and suspend in-person services until further notice. In the interim, these businesses are encouraged to pursue digital programming if possible.
The order also pursues additional measures to keep vulnerable populations such as the elderly and those with underlying conditions safe. Visitation to nursing homes, retirement homes, and long-term care or assisted-living facilities is now limited to visits involving essential care only. Businesses are encouraged to enact policies that take extra steps to assist vulnerable populations by considering measures such as shopping hours exclusive from the general public.
This proclamation will remain in effect until further notice. For more information, go to Lakesite, TN – City Government Facebook page or website www.lakesitetn.gov or call 423-842-2533.