Public Reentry Plan for Administration Complex
Effective Date: May 18, 2020

Purpose: To schedule and execute a phased plan for the reentry of the Administration Building and its various affiliate offices, courts and functions back into the mainstream of community use and operation; to provide for the safety of employees working within the complex and the citizens entering the complex; and for other purposes.

Anticipated Timeline and Preparatory Measures

The scheduled date for public reentry is anticipated to begin on May 18th, 2020, with the recognition that circumstances external to and apart from our control may force the timeline to be abridged or extended, depending upon orders from the State and Federal Government, the recommendations of Public Health entities and laws that may not provide discretionary latitude. Prior to the anticipated reentry, various measures will need to be enacted, tested, revised and tested again to ensure that the desired outcomes will be achieved. The Administration Building is currently operating at the third of five levels of operational status, that being in a condition of Operational Lockdown, and other than a period of two weeks where the building was operating at the fourth level (Operational Shutdown), has done so since March 18th. The goal is to move our operational status to the second level (Operational Restricted) as an interim step between the current status and the eventual goal of being Operational Normal again. To accomplish this the following preparatory steps will be taken:

• The Auditorium will be reconfigured to allow for 2 meters of equidistant separation between members of the audience. This will reduce the number of seats available by approximately 2/3 of the previous number. Barriers will be erected to ensure that the public does not cross the bar into the area of the bench. County Commissioners, Planning Commissioners and Court Personnel will be separated by one chair between each one so no more than 5 are at the bench. Staff will sit at the table to the side of the bench and maintain distancing. Workshops and meetings will be held this way. The Chair will read a set of special instructions at the start of the meeting to familiarize the public with the measures they will have to observe.

• The Tax Commissioner’s Office lobby will be marked appropriately to allow for no more than 3 persons to be in the lobby area at any one time.

• The Tax Assessor’s Office lobby will be marked appropriately to allow for no more than 1 person to be in the lobby area at any one time.

• The Elections Office will be reconfigured to allow for early voting, which begins that week, to be carried out but in a way that maintains social distancing. They have developed plans for cleaning and maintaining equipment through the election process. There will be no more than 8 persons allowed in the election office at any given time. All persons coming to vote will allowed to access the election’s office directly from the side of the building. Assistants will be on hand to direct voters through the process.

• The lobby of the Commissioner’s Office and Planning will be marked in such a way so as to allow no more than one person for Planning and one person for the Commissioner’s Office to be in the lobby at a given time. Waiting chairs, which cannot be sanitized, will be removed from the lobby. Persons will be instructed to call ahead for a schedule time (same day where possible) to handle business matters within the planning department. Meetings with public will not be handled in offices but in the conference table area, which will be cleaned after each use. The Chief Inspector will be available in office on Tuesdays from 8AM to 12PM and on Thursdays from 1PM-4PM; otherwise will be on inspections in the field. Walk-ins will be handled if no one else is being served but those who have scheduled times to meet with Planning & Development will have priority. For planning and development appointments call 770-775-8210

• An area will be marked outside for people to wait to get into the building with appropriate distancing indicated. Contingency plans for rainy days will place people in the gallery.

Implementation

Implementation will begin on May 18th with the following measures enacted:

• Security personnel and part time employees from Parks and Recreation, engaged as screeners, will be positioned in the lobby. Persons entering the facility will be screened medically and for security, then their destination will be determined. If there are persons in line to be screened, others will have to wait outside the building in the designated area, spaced as per markers.

• Once cleared for entry, each person having business within the Administration Building will be given a color-coded sticker that indicates which office they are there to visit. Screeners will keep up with how many people are in each office at a given time and when they see someone coming out with a sticker on, they can then send the next person to the destination office. The stickers will allow them to more easily identify who is leaving what office.

• Restrictions will be in place disallowing multiple persons per visit. No persons under the age of 15 will be admitted to the Administration Building during this phase of restriction.

• All visitors for East Wing offices (DA, Development Authority and 911) shall be by appointment only. These offices will provide screening personnel with a daily schedule of appointments that have been scheduled.

• Persons coming to vote will be given a special sticker at the door for going to the election office; others will get the color-coded stickers.

• Drills will be held prior to implementation. These are currently scheduled for Tuesday the 5th at 2PM and Monday the 11th at 2PM.

This is the basic outline of the plan. As drills occur and other questions arise, contingencies will be worked out for those issues and others. To contact one of the aforementioned offices, please use the following numbers:

Tax Assessors Office is 770-775-8207
Tax Commissioner’s Office is 770-775-8206
The Elections Office is 770-775-8202
The Planning and Development Office is 770-775-8210
The Administration Department is 770-775-8200

If you have questions about one of the various courts that hold sessions here, please contact that court office directly.

We wish to say thank you to all of the citizens of Butts County for your patience and understanding throughout this difficult time. We really appreciate not only that, but your continued support of our public safety, health and critical service personnel and others who have been engaged in fighting the coronavirus here in the county. Please remember that these rules and regulations that we have put in place are only temporary to help us get through these challenging times. We look forward to the days when we can fully open our buildings and our resources again to all of the citizens of the county as we did before this began and your efforts, along with those of others in the great state of Georgia will help to ensure that day comes sooner rather than later.