It was a year like no other, when face masks became a regular part of one’s attire and previously unheard-of terms such as “social distancing” and “virtual meetings” infiltrated the American vocabulary.
The coronavirus dominated the news in 2020 as no other story has before, and likely never will again.
But in reflecting on the tumultuous year, Mount Airy officials also can point to some positive developments that occurred despite the onslaught of COVID-19 — which caused the deaths of about 80 Surry County residents and infected hundreds more.
“(The year) 2020 has been very challenging and one that no one could have ever imagined,” City Manager Barbara Jones summed-up regarding the hardships COVID-19 posed both to municipal operations and other facets of the community.
“The businesses and schools all faced the same issues as us, of how to meet and congregate without spreading the virus,” Commissioner Ron Niland, also Mount Airy’s mayor pro tem, said Monday in discussing its impact.
“And overall, I think everybody did as well as we could under the circumstances.”
Many local restaurants and other businesses were forced to curtail operations, or shut down altogether, in conforming to COVID-19 restrictions imposed by the governor and health authorities. Even houses of worship were included among this scenario along with funeral homes dealing with limits on public gatherings, while nearly every festival and other events were cancelled.
“We started the year with much excitement about possibilities of what could be, and then bam, the pandemic, COVID-19 (arose),” the city manager added.
“This virus has changed so many lives and has taken many lives.”
Virus met head-on
However, Jones pointed out that rather than fold under the pressure, Mount Airy leaders responded to the crisis in various ways.
“As we started learning about COVID-19, we were spinning with information and reports from all sources on how to protect our families, how to safely do business and in general how to function,” the city manager recalled regarding municipal government measures.
“Mayor (David) Rowe quickly declared a state of emergency as the staff and I began to sign up for every virtual meeting possible to learn more about how to keep folks safe and stay on top of orders from the governor,” Jones further related.
“We had virtual meetings with folks on the federal and state level, held weekly meetings with the Local Emergency Planning Committee and worked diligently to continue our services and to help our community.”
Niland agrees.
“I think we did the best we could under the circumstances to continue providing good services to the community under very trying conditions,” said the commissioner who also is fulfilling mayoral responsibilities. This was triggered by another major development during the year in Mount Airy, the resignation of Rowe in October.
Health issues, not stemming from COVID-19, prompted the mayor to step down after nearly five years in that post, capping off a long career of public service overall.
Effects on operations
“This virus closed our Recreation Department and most of our parks for some time, sending some staff home,” the city manager mentioned in outlining the COVID-19 impact on facilities such as Reeves Community Center.
“We provided our staff with all the necessary protective equipment and supplies to be able to stay as safe as possible,” Jones continued. “We started staggering workers with working on-site and remotely and set up accounting in our Finance Department to work with our utility customers during this pandemic.”
Last spring, Mount Airy officials assisted business owners by blocking off certain parking spaces in the downtown area for food pickups once Gov. Roy Cooper allowed eateries to be open with limitations.
In addition, the city government partnered with local schools to provide food for children in need and distributed more than 10,000 masks to citizens in a matter of a couple of weeks, the city manager detailed.
Otherwise, it was business as usual.
Mount Airy’s public works staff has continued to provide garbage-collection and other services including addressing utility problems, according to Jones, while staying separated as much as possible and masking up on the job.
“Our Fire Department continues to work diligently with the community to provide service and keep our community safe — they continue to go into burning buildings when there is a fire, and work medical calls,” the city manager observed concerning fire personnel.
Meanwhile, local police are maintaining their work with businesses, patrolling the community and dealing with such issues as drug problems and break-ins while conducting welfare checks on local residents “and all the things that make our city safe,” Jones summarized.
City still healthy financially
Although the coronavirus loomed as a major medical threat during 2020 and continues to do so, the municipality has stayed on the stable list from a budgetary standpoint.
“In general, we continue to remain financially strong,” the city manager declared as 2020 drew to a close.
An audit report presented in November showed that even with the pandemic, Mount Airy’s fund balance, or surplus, actually had grown, to $11,011,349 — exceeding that of the previous fiscal year by around 15%.
Jones mentioned that as city department heads were setting up work stations for remote functions and shuffling staff, they were constantly monitoring the finances and developing a budget.
There was a prevailing question surrounding what the pandemic was meaning for revenues, expenses and the overall well-being of the staff and business community.
“We put a halt on planned purchases, attended meetings that staff from the State Treasurer’s Office were participating in and listened to their advice on managing the city’s finances during these uncertain times,” Jones reported.
“We put a hold on filling vacant positions and worked to do everything possible to continue our service level as efficiently as possible,” with staffs providing services using reduced personnel in the face of quarantines and unfilled vacancies.
Projects completed
The city manager also is pleased by the progress made in key infrastructure projects benefiting the public.
These included the completion of one in 2020 involving the rehabilitation of water, sewer and storm-drainage lines in the Willow Street area near the site of a new apartment complex. “As part of this project we included new sidewalks and granite curbing along Willow Street,” Jones mentioned.
In addition, Mount Airy finished a major project to rehabilitate water and sewer lines in the Factory Street, Marshall Street and West Pine Street area during 2020, with construction beginning on another water/sewer rehab effort in the area of Maple and Merritt streets.
Other key developments include the opening of Spencer’s Mill Apartments in a former textile mill building converted into a 65-unit multi-residential development.
Plans for a proposed hotel, possibly operating under the Marriott brand, also began taking hold as the year was ending.
Among other growth, Texwipe, a global manufacturer of contamination-control supplies, announced during 2020 that it would create 33 new jobs in Mount Airy. The company is relocating from Georgia and will spend $4.5 million to buy and renovate the former Hanesbands facility on West Pine Street and supply new equipment.
WRS Real Estate Investments, a South Carolina firm, completed a $1.25 million renovation of the 22,000-square-foot former Kmart building at Mayberry Mall, with a new Hobby Lobby store opening there this month. WRS has invested more than $10 million in an extensive renovation covering about 140,000 square feet, which is home to 19 store spaces, according to information provided by Jones.
“We will always remember 2020 with loss, frustration, sadness and hard life decisions,” the city manager concluded.
“Let’s now look forward with hope that the vaccine now being distributed will bring health, happiness and a more prosperous 2021.”
Niland also is optimistic:
“We’ve got a lot of positives to build on and I’m excited going forward.”
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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