The City of Carmel will reopen City Hall to the public and employees beginning on Monday, April 12.
Based on a dramatic increase of vaccinations, especially among the most vulnerable population, extremely low hospitalization numbers and the availability of more effective treatments in Hamilton County and in Carmel specifically, city officials have developed a plan to gradually increase staffing at City Hall to full force by May 3.
City officials will continue taking temperatures of employees and visitors as they enter City Hall. This will continue until it is deemed unnecessary by the Mayor, based on his continued monitoring of daily reports from the Hamilton County Health Department, Carmel Fire Department, local hospitals and the State of Indiana.
Members of the public who have been vaccinated will no longer need to wear masks in order to conduct business in Carmel City Hall; however, they will have their temperature taken as they enter and they may be asked about their vaccination status.
Brainard
“Based on the numbers we have seen in Carmel and Hamilton County, and the guidance we have received from the Governor’s office, we feel it is time to carefully return employees and visitors to City Hall,” said Mayor Jim Brainard. “I appreciate our city employees’ dedication and extra effort to continue serving the citizens and businesses of Carmel through this challenging time. I also want to thank the community for their patience, understanding and perseverance as we focused on keeping our community safe and moving forward. We recognize that it will take some time to fully transition out of our cautionary practices, but with the rising numbers of Hoosiers being vaccinated and lower number of serious illnesses in our local hospitals, we feel that Carmel is ready to begin the process of reconnecting.”
Public meetings, such as the Carmel City Council and Plan Commission, will allow visitors to watch the proceedings in the Council chambers without restrictions. However, for those who do not feel ready to do so, the city will continue to offer live streaming and video archiving of public meetings by way of the city’s website and social media options.
City employees who work out of City Hall will have a staggered return over a three-week period from April 12 to May 3. Working with their directors, employees will begin scheduling their return dates based on vaccination status, childcare requirements, travel plans, departmental operational needs, equipment and training availability or other relevant personal or organizational issues. The target date for all employees to be back at City Hall is May 3.
Employees who are not fully vaccinated must consent to COVID testing and have a negative test result within three days prior to return. Employees who provide proof of vaccination will no longer need to be tested for COVID-19.
Additional measures will be taken to keep the number of employees interacting in person to a minimum. For example, department meetings will be limited to a number that allows for proper physical distancing, which may require some employees to join meetings virtually from their desks or another work location.
Effective May 3, vaccinated employees will no longer be required to wear masks in City Hall. Employees are expected to respect the preferences of co-workers who wish to continue masking.