Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
When the novel coronavirus presence in the United States was announced, its impact was noted in specific areas, people who had health struggles. Then it arrived on “Main Street” and it became everyone's concern.
Two local families share their perspectives and what enduring the pandemic means to them.
At the close of the March 24 Sidney City Council meeting, Brett Bently of Sidney asked what the City is doing for families facing utility disconnection. During the virtual meeting, Bently asked if the City will be turning off water and power to residents struggling with the loss of income due to the novel coronavirus.
Mayor Roger Gallaway said he could not give a complete answer because the issue was not on the agenda, and because the City's response was still being researched. He did say the City is not interested in making conditions worse.
“I can assure you the City is not trying to cause undue harm,” Gallaway responded.
Gallaway said part of the equation for the City is waiting for the federal government's reaction. On Friday, President Donald Trump sing a $2 trillion coronavirus economic stimulus bill. The bill was signed shortly after the House of Representatives approved it. The stimulus bill is expected to result in checks of $1,200 for each worker who makes $75,000 or less. The scale is based on 2019 tax returns; 2018 if the 2019 returns have not been filed.
Thursday, Bently said two weeks into the coronavirus impact and families are “hurting bad.”
Bently said he is not impacted personally. However, he knows people in the Sidney community who are fearful of losing their utilities.
“We're not rich, but we're not to the point we're getting shut off,” he said.
Bob Gehrig, also of Sidney, said he is concerned for his family's health. His concern is because of exposure related to convenience store work and the possibility of exposure from customers handling multiple items before approaching the check-out counter.
“That's a lot of people that can get sick,” he said.
He encourages people to use card readers at the fuel pumps more and be aware of your health when going to a convenience store.
Sidney Police Chief Joe Aikens Friday denied rumors of travel being monitored. He repeated what the Panhandle Health Department said, encouraging travelers to self-quarantine when
returning from outside of the Panhandle area. However, there are no roads closed between neighboring states or enforcement of quarantine.
The City of Sidney announced Friday a special meeting will be held 7:15 Wednesday, April 1, to address the concerns of disconnected utilities. In Finance Director/Interim City Manager David Scott's memo to the council, he acknowledged the City has received concerns about the City's current disconnect policy regarding the coronoavirus/COVID-19 impact. Scott said that during the third week of March, disconnect notices were sent out.
“There were a handful of utility customers that called in stating that they were experiencing financial difficulties due to the coronavirus and wanted to know if the city was forgoing disconnections,” Scott said in his memo. “At that time, they were advised the city had no current policy to forgo disconnections due to non-payment.”
He added that during the last billing cycle — the smallest of the three processed each month — the City had 45 customers that did not pay, totaling $15,647.21. Scott said with the other two billing cycles larger than the third, he anticipates about $60,000 each month in unpaid utility bills. He said with a couple of the utility services having very little reserves, he expects the departments to “be in serious financial crisis within months” if utility services are forgiven.
His is proposing to the the council an administrative policy that will include an appeal process in case of immediate and serious health hazard, and serious financial difficulties, due to the COVID-19 virus.
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