The City of Butler is joining the federal, state, and Butler County governments in declaring a state of emergency.
Councilman Jeff Smith points out the seriousness of the situation as well as the steps being taken.
“We took some steps to ensure that our employees were as safe as possible while they continue doing their working and then we’ve taken some other steps community-wise to ensure that the public is safe.”
The Butler City Building will remain open at this time but only have limited access. City parks will remain open however all events in city parks through May 15th have been cancelled.
“What we do want to encourage people and parents to do, if you’re in the park and you see a large group of children or people playing on the playground equipment, maybe now’s not a good time to be there because you want to keep your distance and we want people to have gatherings of fewer than 10 whenever possible.”
The next meeting of Butler City Council later this month has been cancelled and the hearing that was scheduled for landlords and tenants has been postponed.
The possibility exists for future meetings to be conducted electronically with the public still invited to participate online. City boards and commissions have also been directed to cancel their meetings.