The Fayette Board of Aldermen during its regular meeting April 7, adopted a new ordinance that grants emergency powers to the city’s mayor in times of emergency, such as the current coronavirus pandemic. The ordinance was drafted by city attorney Nathan Nickolaus and given unanimous approval by members of the city council.

The ordinance would allow the mayor to take extraordinary steps should such be needed to protect the lives and safety of the people of Fayette. It is enacted to set out and clarify the authority of the city and its officers and employees with regard to emergency and disaster situations, and is intended to grant a broad set of powers as permitted by statutory and constitutional authority.

The ordinance defines a disaster in a broad set of circumstances that include natural disasters such as floods or tornadoes, water contamination or pollution, land or air contamination, disease pandemics, and civil or utility emergencies.

The order is essentially a reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic that is currently sweeping the globe. Unlike most cities and municipalities, the City of Fayette had no authority on the books to allow the mayor to declare a state of emergency and set additional restrictions, such as the closure of businesses and stay-at-home orders which the state has currently issued. It will allow for restrictions to go into effect for a period of up to 30 days or until terminated by the mayor or city council. After that time, the mayor, only with approval from the city council, may extend the state of emergency. The mayor or city council may also cancel the declaration prior to its 30-day expiration.

Section nine of the ordinance addresses public health emergencies. It states that for the basis of declaring an emergency due to a public health crisis, such as a pandemic, the mayor shall be authorized to exercise the following powers in addition to the general powers of the ordinance: to declare individuals, but not areas, quarantined as provided in Missouri statutes; to limit the number of people who may be permitted to gather in public places; to limit certain public services determined to be non-critical to stop the spread of disease; to close or curtail the operations of restaurants, bars, or places of public entertainment; to order all persons to stay home and to provide exceptions to such a rule.

Also in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the city council determined it will not shut off utilities to customers who do not pay their bills through May 15 due to the loss of work due to the coronavirus. The council will reassess this policy after the month of April. At that time it could end or extend the policy, depending on the situation with the disease.

With large numbers of people across the nation in all sectors suddenly finding themselves out of work, utility companies are amending policies so that those unable to pay their bills will not be without basic services for water and electricity.

“We’re not shutting anyone off right now,” said Fayette Mayor Greg Stidham.

The policy is not without a catch, however. A customer unable to pay his utility bill would be asked to sign a document declaring his intention to pay for all utilities used and will be asked for a down payment of 34 percent of what is currently owed. The customer will then have three months to pay off the balance. This is the city’s way of ensuring bills will not go unpaid.

“The condition not to shut them off is the down payment,” said interim city administrator John Hancock.

The city council gave unanimous approval to adopt the policy.

The city is also concerned with a decline in revenue due to measures put in place to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, such as the closure of businesses and the shelter-in-place orders. “It's obvious that our sales tax will be going down and we will be impacted,” Hancock said. This is also the time that aldermen begin working on the budget, which must be passed prior to July 1. The council will hold a special meeting June 30 if necessary in order to adopt a budget before the deadline.

It is unknown just how steep the revenue decline will be. Hancock said it would be at least a month before more realistic numbers could be determined due to the lag in sales tax processing.