Roger Estlack

The City of Clarendon enacted Phase 3 of its COVID-19 response plan Tuesday afternoon following notification that a positive case of the disease was confirmed in Donley County that morning.

City Administrator David Dockery said City Hall was closed to the public and would be operated for the time being with a skeleton staff, probably just him. Payments may be made at the dropbox at the front of the building, which will be checked daily. The Burton Memorial Library will also remain closed.

The city recycling center was also closed, but residents may still use recycling dumpsters and designated grass and leaf dumpsters around the city. All sanitation services will continue although pick up times may take longer, Dockery said.

City utility workers will be dispatched from City Hall but will be home with their city vehicles unless they are called out.

Work on the city’s two main projects – the aquatics center and the USDA-funded water infrastructure project – will be suspended. Dockery said this decision was due to the fact that many of the workers on those projects are coming in from areas with high COVID-19 infection rates such as Dallas and Amarillo.

City officials were already concerned about how COVID-19 was going to affect the pool and USDA projects prior to the confirmed case this week. During last week’s city meeting, Dockery told the council the aquatics center could face issues with getting lifeguards trained during social distancing and said the USDA project was suffering from further delays because the some of the contractors workers were not showing up due to fears about the coronavirus.

“Everything is happening very fast,” Dockery said. “We are learning every day, and this is something we have never dealt with before.”

City council meetings in the near future will be conducted in a teleconference method such as Skype. Officials are still working out the details of that out but said they would follow the guidance set by the state to comply with the Open Meetings Act.

Dockery and Mayor Sandy Skelton both said they are not considering a shelter in place order like the one issued in Amarillo at this time, but the city is staying in close contact with the county judge’s office as things move forward.

“From a percentage standpoint, one case in Donley County is a higher percentage than 11 cases in Amarillo,” Dockery said.

The Clarendon City Council approved extending the city’s disaster declaration for 60 days among other agenda items at its regular meeting last Thursday, March 26.

The declaration opens access to state and federal resources for the city and local businesses in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic that is negatively impacting the nation and the entire world.

The city originally declared an emergency disaster declaration on March 19, but that order only lasted for seven days.

City Administrator David Dockery’s report to the council also reflected how COVID-19 is affecting other areas of city business. City utility income is suffering because students are not at the college and the public schools.

City officials also visited with Sheriff Butch Blackburn about the law enforcement contract between the city and the county, and authorized the mayor to negotiate with the county judge.

A request by Cornell’s Country Store was approved to abandon 150 feet of Orpe Street from US 287 to the alleyway. That street will be divided between Cornell’s on the east and West Texas Gas on the west with the city maintaining a utility easement.

The council voted in favor of increasing the fee to impound animals after hours to $100.

Gov. Greg Abbott announced Tuesday afternoon that he was ordering public schools to remain closed until May 4 as the state continues to battle COVID-19.

Clarendon and Hedley schools continue to work to deliver educational materials and meals to their students. Clarendon Superintendent Jarod Bellar reported that CCISD served a five-day total of 493 breakfasts and 700 lunches last week.

The Donley County Judge’s office announced Tuesday morning that a case of COVID-19 has been confirmed in Donley County.

Judge John Howard, MD, has released the following public notification. We will have more information, as this story develops.

“To the citizens of Donley County:

“My office has received written notification from a private lab that there is a confirmed case of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) in a Donley County resident. I was notified on March 30, 2020, and contacted the Texas Department of Health per protocol. I want the public to be aware that we will be as transparent as possible with any necessary information that may affect us individually and as a community.

“HIPPA restricts the release of specific patient information about the patient’s medical condition but we can report the patient is currently at home, where they have been quarantined and are continuing to be medically supervised. There is an ongoing investigation by the health department, and they will follow up on people and locations the patient may have been while ill. It is believed that the infected individual contracted the virus from community spread (person to person contact contamination) and has not reported any significant travel.

“We ask that citizens of Donley County to continue to be diligent in their efforts to reduce contact with others as much as possible. Please follow the CDC recommendations for social distancing, eliminate non-essential activity outside your home even if you are well, avoid groups of people, practice good hand washing and sanitizing practices, and if you are feeling ill please stay home and avoid others in your home as well.

“For further information on the COVID-19 virus, you can visit the Center for Disease Control website at: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nov/index.html. For business’ and individuals that are concerned: please look at the Interim US Guidance for Risk Assessment and Public Health Management of Persons with Potential COVID-19 Exposures.

“Additionally, please contact your health care provider if you have symptoms consistent with the Coronavirus (fever, cough, shortness of breath) to determine if additional evaluation, treatment or testing is appropriate.”

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has announced the expected reopening of US 287 in Hedley by the close of business on Friday, March 27.

Final striping will be completed earlier in the week with the traffic swap to occur at the end of the week.

“Once the new roadway is striped for the final configuration and all main lanes are open to traffic, locals are encouraged to use the new auxiliary lanes for turning movements off US 287 at Bailey and McDougal Streets,” stated Childress District Area Engineer Matt Herbstritt. “While access to Hedley will be restored by Bailey and McDougal Streets, the SH 203 intersection will remain closed until the drainage improvements are finalized at that location.”

“Workers will continue to be present on site over the coming weeks as the contractor finalizes drainage and illumination improvements,” ended Herbstritt.

For more information, contact TxDOT Public Information Officer Ginger Wilson at (940) 937-7288.

Howardwick Baptist Church Pastor Jim Fox announced Tuesday that plans are being made for a community-wide worship service to be held at the Sandell Drive-In this Sunday at 10 a.m.

Fox said he and several other local churches were working together on the plan, which would have a stage set up near the Sandell screen with residents being able to watch and listen from their cars. Musicians from the participating churches would each take a turn delivering a message and singing in groups of five or less.

The audio would be broadcast over the Sandell’s FM band that is usually used for movies.

“The Lord laid this on my heart, and I think our community needs it,” Fox said.

Fox said there are three basic rules that everyone must follow. Everyone must stay in their cars. There is to be no honking for “Amens.” And there are no bathrooms available.

Primary runoff elections as well as the Clarendon school board election have been postponed to help mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 virus, and two other local elections may also be postponed.

Governor Greg Abbott last week issued a proclamation postponing the runoff primary election until July 14, 2020. The runoff election was originally scheduled for May 26.

Abbott also took action to allow local governments to move their elections scheduled for May 2, 2020, to the next general election on November 3, 2020. Clarendon CISD’s Board of Trustees voted in favor of that move during a called meeting on Monday night. School trustees felt that some senior citizens might not vote during a May election this year due to the COVID-19 virus.

The Howardwick City Council and the Clarendon College Board of Regents were also scheduled to consider moving their elections this week.

The postponement of elections serves to help fulfill the Governor’s recent executive orders mandating certain obligation for Texans that are aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19, including the encouragement of social distancing.

Holding elections in May would cause the congregation of large gatherings of people in confined spaces and cause numerous election workers to come into close proximity with others, the governor’s office said. This would threaten the health and safety of many Texans.
Early voting for the runoff primary election will begin July 6.