The city of Cypress, and their local businesses, are slowing reopening to the public as the state lifts stay-at-home orders, city manager Peter Grant told the Cypress Council at its May 12 meeting.
“The city is transitioning to stage two,” said Grant while the city is “expanding its testing capacity.”
“As it stands, city operations are largely unchanged over the last two weeks,” said Grant. “However, he said, we have had positive developments as the state’s transitions to stage two of its resiliency road map.”
Between now and June 1, some employees will be returning to city hall and the building and planning counter will be open for appointments, said Grant. Also, he said the police department will reopen its lobby to the public for walk-ins.
“The self-determination approach” for local businesses, however, is another matter, the city manager said.
Businesses statewide are reopening under orders that not only dictate what they can and cannot do, but also under a policy which allows businesses to determine when they are ready to open, he told the council.
“The self-determination approach has led to some incongruencies as to which businesses are open around the community,” he said.
For example, while JoAnn Fabrics have reopened, Hobby Lobby has not.
“The decisions rests on the individual stores, based on whether they determine themselves to be an essential business,” said Grant,. Also, when the business feels comfortable reopening based on the guidance they’re receiving from the state,” he added.
Meanwhile, residents should continue their strict adherence to the new temporary rules that are in place and all facilities, playgrounds, Community Center and Senior Center will remain closed for now, said Grant.
Grant said all reopened facilities will have “rigorous health and safety protocols” with “enhanced cleaning” to keep employees and residents safe.
“Traffic is picking up on city streets” said police chief Rod Cox.
Cox asked Cypress motorists to slow down because of an increase number of pedestrians beginning to come out.
Also, he said the city saw a bump in burglaries due to “unoccupied businesses” and vehicles, so he asked residents not to lock anything of value in their vehicles.
Overall, said Cox, crime in Cypress is down 7 percent thus far this year.
Community Services Director Cameron Harding said that park amenities including play equipment and picnic shelters remain closed, but they have opened tennis and pickle ball courts for singles play. All play will be monitored by park staff, he added.
He said the basketball courts and the skate park at Veterans Park are open for four people or less at a time, and they will also be monitored by park staff.
In addition, the park’s grassy areas and open spaces are available to the public, provided people maintain social distancing standards. Harding said Cypress School District and Anaheim Union High School district facilities and fields remain closed to the public.
City Clerk Alicia Farnell said the city managed to hold two virtual bid openings and “received positive feedback” from the bidders. She said the city will continue to use this method until state guidelines mandate otherwise.
Also, Farnell said a meeting scheduled for May 18 to recruit new commission members for the city has been cancelled and that the city has reached out to commission members whose terms are up in June to notify them, and the public, when and how new recruitment can be handled.
Until then, she said, all city commission meetings have been cancelled.
Finance Director Matt Burton said the city continues to track COVID response expenses in the event there is an opportunity for state and/or federal reimbursement.
Burton said there is a budget workshop May 26 where he will go into more financial detail about the impact of the virus on city finances.
Burton did say “the revenue declines in the general fund will have serious implications going forward.”
Director of Development Doug Dancs said crews were “wrapping up” playground resurfacing and working on civic center improvements, among other projects mentioned.
“Operations continue to run smoothly,” he said, adding that they are thinking about bringing back “code enforcement” and working on enterprise software to complete a transition to a “virtual city hall.”
His comments prompted council member Stacy Berry to ask city officials not to be too anxious giving parking tickets just yet, saying many families are still gathered in homes and parking space is still not an easy fix.
“I certainly understand the importance of street sweeping but I do have some concwith ramping back up. I know that the city manager had mentioned will be isssuing warnings before citations but with so many people at home now, some working from home and perhaps they don’t have a place to move their car or forget to move their car,” said Berry.
“I hope we will certainly work with the residents in our city and be understanding of these unprecedented times,” she said.
