Providing regular meeting updates and videos
On May 23, the Sonoma County Health Officer, Sundari Mase, amended the public shelter-in-place order to expand the list of businesses that are now able to operate in the county as allowed by the state’s approval for the county to fully transition into Phase 2 of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s reopening plan. Now that some other businesses may reopen, the Healdsburg Recovery Task Force is working to provide helpful information on safety and reopening with regular Zoom meetings and videos.
Some of the significant changes, according to the text of the order, are:
“• Restaurants and food facilities may offer onsite sit-down outdoor meals.
• Wineries, tasting rooms, bars, pubs, breweries and craft distilleries may offer: a) curbside pick-up, delivery, shipping; and b) sit-down outdoor meals in accordance with their land use permit and if the business has a food-facility permit (if applicable).
• Summer day camps and other educational or recreational institutions or programs may provide childcare/supervision for children of all ages.
• Ceremonies (including graduations and religious activities) may be conducted with household members attending in closed motorized vehicles.”
As of last week, the recovery task force had four Zoom meetings with a fair number of attendees.
“We’ve had three Zoom meetings that we advertised with the city’s media resources and social media, as well as the chamber’s. So far, we’ve had a total of about 55 attendees. There is one more tomorrow (May 19, after press time),” the soon to be interim Healdsburg city manager David Kiff said at the most recent Healdsburg City Council meeting on May 18.
“We are talking about their ideas and how we could access the public spaces for them. So it’s everything from discussions of a street closure, to a partial street closure, to use of sidewalks and parks and some of our community facilities. So far there is a good consensus that it would be great to do this, but not a consensus on things like full closure of streets.”
Once the task force gets more ideas and feedback from business owners on the partial or full street closure idea, they will present ideas to the Healdsburg City Council for consideration.
The task force is also meeting online with the Healdsburg Chamber of Commerce and Healdsburg Chamber CEO, Tallia Hart.
“The task force has been meeting online once a week and with Tallia, to do some information work in between. We’ve been sharing a lot of information, there is a business checklist for what a business might need for reopening. We’ve done three YouTube videos, one that focuses on Fire Chief Jason Boaz showing how employee screening and use of a thermal thermometer works,” Kiff said.
Another video features two local shop owners explaining how to do curbside pick up the right way.
Erika Dawkins, owner of Bon Ton Studio on Center Street, shared the steps that they’re taking to reopen for curbside pickup.
“To start, I invite all of my customers to shop online on Facebook, Instagram or by email or text. Once I receive the order here in the shop, I pack their order and we alert the customer to know that their order is ready,” Dawkins said while holding a packed order with gloved hands. “From there, they will give us a call and let us know the make and model of their car and we’ll meet them outside (With masks on of course).”
Cathleen Boitano-Grande, the owner of Bella All Things Beautiful, is using a similar method, but is also putting up numbered displays in her storefront so customers can easily window shop from a safe distance.
“It’s curbside pickup only so I do have a lot of things displayed curbside so at least people can get a looksie,” Boitano-Grande said in the video. “I’ve put items in the window and there’s like 40 different items and they are numbered. On my Instagram or Facebook page, you’d see item number one 14-karat gold filled necklace and you can tell me that you’d like item number one. It’s just to try and make things a little easier.”
Boitano-Grande, who worked as a nurse for 30 years, added that they are completely sanitized.
“Everything here is sanitized from the top of this (A hand sanitizer pump) when somebody uses it, to the pens that you’re using, to the knobs, to just everything,” she said.
Bella is also doing private appointments and curbside delivery.
The task force also interviewed the owners of 8 Dragons Restaurant, and made a video to show what customers and restaurateurs may expect when returning to in-house dining.
“When they allow some in-house dining then we are going to follow all of the guidelines from the state of California and the county of Sonoma. You have to frequently sanitize during the day… The servers and the busers will have to wear masks and they’ll also have to respect social distancing. Already we are having all of our employees complete the self screening checklist,” said 8 Dragons owner, Chris Yee.
Currently, the restaurant is doing curbside pickup and delivery.
The chamber of commerce will have another virtual check-in meeting with the recovery task force on May 29 at 9 a.m., with Healdsburg Vice Mayor Evelyn Mitchell and Coucilmember David Hagele. To register for the meeting, visit, https://www.healdsburg.com/covid19/.
To view the Healdsburg Recovery Task Force videos, visit their YouTube page at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfvUnTHn4Vw3KsLm82RaMPg or visit the Healdsburg Chamber of Commerce’s Facebook page at, https://www.facebook.com/HealdsburgChamber/.
