The Park City Council will meet Thursday, against the backdrop of theCOVID-19 pandemic.
The city already streams the audio from its public meetings online, but Park City Manager Matt Dias says they might test a few options, like streaming live on Facebook. Most agenda items are noticed for public comment, and in a time when the public is practicing social distancing and isolation to prevent spread of COVID-19, community members might not want to visit city council meetings in person.
Instead, Dias suggests listening to the meeting on Park City’s website or watching the livestream on the city’s Facebook page, and emailing comments to the city, which staff will monitor during the meeting.
“It’s going to get a little confusing in the short term about asking the public to participate virtually," Dias said. "This is hopefully a short period of time where we have some sort of a new norm.”
The city is going digital in other ways, too. Park City Municipal suspended non-essential facilities and services, such as the library, ice arena and MARC. Dias says most employees are working from home when they can and conducting business through email and other digital platforms. Essential services, like public works, transit and public safety, continue to operate to their full extent, though Park City Transit has transitioned to its more limited spring service level early, to decrease the risk of transmission.
Dias says the city has made some changes to parking in Old Town as well, including lifting the gates at the China Bridge parking garage. But there will still be paid parking on Main Street.
“We are maintaining a dollar an hour on Main Street, to ensure there’s a minimum level of turnover, and we have broached that issue with the Historic Park City Alliance," Dias said. "I think on an interim basis, on a temporary basis, things seem to be OK for now, and I think we hope it’s a temporary measure.”
The outbreak has brought Park City to a screeching halt, in terms of economic growth for the remainder of the peak winter season. Dias says the city has a plan that was used during the 2008 recession, which includes budgeting and revenue analysis.
“It’s something we have a small task force working on, and I think we’re very fortunate to have received this hit to our economy when we received it," Dias said. "So, we’re doing the good work so we can come back and have a budget process that’s informed.”
The Park City Council meets Thursday, starting with a work session at 5:30 p.m. You can listen to audio from the meeting at parkcity.org; watch the livestream on the Park City Government Facebook page; and then send questions during public input to council.meeting@parkcity.org. Comments must be submitted through that email for the official record — comments received on Facebook don’t count.
