Village Board Update on COVID-19 Pandemic

Mayor Scott Strauss and the Village Board of Trustees presented an update on the COVID-19 pandemic.  That address can be viewed on Mineola-TV.  A transcript of the address follows:

Village of Mineola COVID-19 Statement

The COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented in our time, and the steps being taken every day are often charting new territory.

Our Village began addressing the COVID-19, or “Coronavirus” pandemic several weeks ago when the pandemic first began.

While most of us get daily updates from health organizations on the spread of this virus and health responses, the Village Board and I want to take this opportunity to give you an update on the steps our Village has taken to protect our residents and our employees and to prevent the possibility of introducing COVID-19 into our community.

To date, the Village of Mineola has complied with all health standards and will continue to take whatever steps necessary to ensure the health and safety of its residents and employees.

For several weeks now, we have been participating in contagion prevention and mitigation as directed by the New York State and Nassau County Boards of Health.  The Village has also taken steps beyond what has been required by health officials to ensure the safety of its employees and the public they serve.

Two weeks ago, I directed all village departments and personnel to begin taking steps to help reduce the possibility of introducing COVID-19 into our community following the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, recommendations. 

Among the many steps taken, Village departments assessed personnel health and staffing levels -- including the impact school closures or work quarantines might have on our workforce, even before schools closed – prepared supply inventories, and coordinated efforts with outside emergency response organizations.

Since then, we have taken additional steps to ensure public safety.  Rigorous sanitizing protocols were implemented at all village facilities, especially those areas with frequent public physical contact, public events and assemblies were cancelled or postponed, and social distancing was instituted. 

In addition, mutual aid preparations have been made between Mineola and five neighboring villages to ensure that – if it were to become necessary – these villages will be available to assist  one another during staffing or equipment shortages.

In addition to departmental efforts, I have coordinated response preparations of Mineola’s emergency responders, especially the Mineola Fire Department, Mineola Auxiliary Police, and the Mineola Volunteer Ambulance Corps.  All will be working in a coordinated effort to help ensure the safety of Mineola residents.

All of our preparations have been made in keeping with our established emergency response plans and have been coordinated with Nassau County and New York State emergency management and health agencies and the CDC.

On Tuesday, Governor Cuomo issued an Executive Order directing all municipalities to reduce their staffing by 50% to limit person-to-person contact.  Yesterday, after careful planning among all of our Village departments, we closed all of our facilities to public access, including our Village Hall and Memorial Library.  This was not an easy decision, as government functions must continue to provide basic services to our residents.

We will be operating at reduced staffing levels, but government operations must and will continue.  This will mean changing the scheduling of some services such as garbage collection.  We will post and distribute these changes as they are implemented.

Until further notice, anyone having business with our Village should do so by mail, telephone, fax, or email.

DO NOT come to Village Hall or Memorial Library unless first instructed to do so by their staff.

One of the greatest challenges we face as a community is not the virus itself, but the impact it’s having on families because they’re staying at home more.   To make it easier for our families to cope, we are also taking steps to ease some of the burden on households. 

Earlier this week we suspended most parking regulations in our residential neighborhoods to accommodate families who are working from home, who have children out of school or with adult children sent home from college, and senior citizens who have visiting home health aides.  We are also temporarily allowing commercial vehicles to park at residences to accommodate those who have been ordered to work from home and must take their company vehicles home.

We are also suspending alternate side parking in these areas, but please remember, that public safety and traffic regulations will still be enforced.  Do not block driveways or fire hydrants or park too close to corners.  Please share the road and be mindful of others.

Furthermore, metered parking in our business districts will continue to be enforced as a way to help our local businesses as many have transitioned to take-out only.  This will help free up spots for our businesses.

I am in constant contact with our department managers.  We are monitoring the pandemic on an ongoing basis and will adjust our Village’s response as needed. 

Residents should be prepared for additional announcements and actions as directed by health agencies.  We are all in this together, and we must all do our part to face this unprecedented challenge. 

We ask that you continue to do your part in responding to this pandemic and encourage you to watch local news, social media, and the Village’s TV station and check our website for updates.  If you haven’t already enrolled in eNotices, please sign up for these email updates through the Village website.

If you need COVID-19 medical information, call the County or State Board of Health, both of whom have established hotlines and webpages for this.  That information is also on our website.

If you have any Village business, please call the main Village telephone number at 746-0750 and follow the prompts to the specific department you need for further instructions.

In addition to all of us, our local business community is also going through some trying times.  Restaurants have been ordered closed except for take-out orders and some staff have been “let go” due to the lack of business. 

If you can, please patronize our local restaurants as often as possible for take-out.  We need to work together and help them get through these times.

I’d like to share a story with you that may offer some comfort.

Recently, I was speaking with a World War 2 veteran who told me about surviving the horrors of war and how his generation sacrificed to achieve victory for all of us.  While I’m second to none in my admiration and respect for our Greatest Generation, I took even greater inspiration from his wife.  She told me about life on the homefront during the war.  Fear.  Anxiety. Wartime rationing.  “Sure, it was hard,” she said, “but we all worked together and got through.”  I took great hope from those words.

Finally we would like to leave you with this thought: This is not the end.

While we are facing a challenge, new to the world, it is not Armageddon.  We will get through this. 

I understand that tempers flare and become short during times like these but we must not let it get the best of us.  Continuing to work cooperatively and constructively together is what makes us the great community that we are.

Your anticipated patience and understanding during these times is greatly appreciated.

We will need to make adjustments, we may need to alter our expectations, and we will certainly need to change the very way in which we go about our daily lives for the foreseeable future.

But, if we work together and do what must be done, we will get through this – together.

Thank you.