A Jan. 18 in-person open forum for the City Council and the public at the Longmont Museum’s Stewart Auditorium has been postponed over COVID-19 concerns.
Council members voted unanimously Tuesday night to table the open forum at least until the latest surge of COVID-19 infections flatten out.
“We should not hold any large public meetings right now as a city,” Councilor Macia Martin said.
Councilors made their decision after hearing a presentation from Lexi Nolan, deputy director of Boulder County Public Health, who said the omicron variant is helping drive huge increases in COVID-related numbers.
“Really, our numbers change almost twice every day,” Nolan told the council.
Nearly 1 in 4, or 24.5%, of people tested in Boulder County have COVID-19 as of Monday, Jan. 10, according to a Boulder County Public Health news release. Positive cases are climbing in nearly every age group, especially those ages 23-34. From Dec. 20 to Jan.10, positive cases of COVID-19 increased by over 82% in people in that age group, the news release states.
City Manager Harold Dominguez told the council that more city employees are leaving work because they have tested positive for COVID-19. Those absences will start to affect city facilities, including recreation centers, he said.
“We are going to have to make some real time decisions,” Dominguez said. He added facility officials may have to tell the public: ``We might not be open today because we just don’t have the staff.”
