In the case of a COVID-19 outbreak in Bethel, residents will still need access to public safety, emergency responders, and potable water. City officials explained how they are making sure these positions are well-staffed, and how the services would keep running even if personnel get sick.
A number of Bethel police officers work a two-week-on, two-week-off schedule. Oftentimes, those officers leave Bethel and travel out of state during their time off. Acting City Manager Bill Howell said that for the time being, those officers are staying put in Bethel.
“All these traveling police officers have agreed to stay past their two-week shift,” Howell said.
Acting Bethel Police Chief Amy Davis says that staffing levels have never looked better.
“We have more officers in town than we ever have, really,” Davis said.
Davis does worry about officers getting sick during a coronavirus outbreak, though. In a situation like that, she’s confident that the other officers would work overtime to cover the shifts. However, she wants to do everything she can to prevent that situation. She’s instructed police to keep physical distance from the public, and she’s even gone so far as to tell them to make fewer arrests during this time.
“We’re arresting people on mandatory stuff that we are mandated by law to arrest on, but not necessarily on other stuff like disorderly conduct or criminal trespassing, stuff like that,” Davis said.
She says that the current policy is not just for the safety of officers.
“We have to be cognizant of the jails, too,” Davis said. “Because there’s a large population of people in close contact with each other.”
Alaska State Troopers Spokesperson Megan Peters wouldn’t say that troopers are staying grounded in Bethel, but she said that troopers are following state health mandates and are quarantining themselves if they return from out-of-state travel.
Once incoming City Manager Vincenzo “Vinny” Corazza starts in April, Acting City Manager Bill Howell will be returning to his post as Bethel Fire Chief. At the fire department, Howell says that there are a number of volunteer firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and paramedics that could help out during a crisis.
“We haven’t had a call for an ‘all hands on deck’ or anything like that, but I am confident that when we need them, our volunteers will be there to help the community,” Howell said.
Another staffing concern during a crisis is water and sewer truck drivers with commercial driver’s licenses. Fourteen out of 18 positions are filled, and if any of them get sick, Howell says that it will be very difficult to keep the water and sewer routes running.
“And so we are doing recruiting for sewer water drivers under a temporary hire program,” Howell said. “If you drive a fuel truck or you drive a bus, and you have a CDL, and you want to get some work while you’re laid off from your regular job.”
Howell says that the city is hiring full-time truck drivers as well, but at this point, they’ll take anyone with a commercial driver’s license for any amount of time.