Trash pickup ran smoothly today in Martins. It will again tomorrow.
Mayor John Davies credits his workers for their versatility and dedication in enabling that to happen. And no, that has nothing to do with the recent holiday weekend. Though some worked that as well.
Martins Ferry is down half of its work force for another week. The city’s street and sanitation departments work out of the same building. The mayor announced June 30 that one of the employees tested positive for COVID-19.
Immediately, all employees in said departments, including the supervisors, began an immediate 14-day quarantine and testing.
The good news? No additional positive tests. Davies also reports the employee in question is doing fine in recovery.
“The worker is doing well as far as I know,” Davies said. “We haven’t talked directly but in speaking with people this worker knows, they are feeling well.”
Davies noted the worker is younger and healthy to begin with. But that test put a “hell of a scare” into the work force as there are a number of older employees.
“It looks like the exposure is contained but we are following the health department guidelines so they still can’t come back yet.”
Who’s Picking Up the Trash
Sanitation Departments employees work the packer trucks that remove trash on a daily basis. Without street or sanitation department guys to run the trucks, the job has fallen to members of the water department.
“They are helping pick the trash up off the street and the supervisors are chipping in as well,” Davies said. “They will continue to do so through next week.”
The mayor noted the critical nature in keeping the city’s garbage pick-up as close to normal as possible.
“You have to get trash off the streets, otherwise, you get rodents, animals tearing into the trash,” Davies said. “We asked the citizens to be patient with us and they have been.
“Friday was a holiday so we picked up trash last week Monday through Thursday and starting (Monday) it was back on a regular pick-up schedule.”
Given the reallocation of labor, water department work is limited to emergency line repair and location.
Street paving is on hiatus, as is the running of the street sweeper.
Workers were called out Friday because of water line break. Saturday, a resident hit a gas line while mowing grass and water lines had to be relocated in a hurry to help facilitate repairs. So much for the extra time off, but Davies credits his workers for picking up the slack and performing work outside of their normal job descriptions.
“They’ve stepped up and I can’t thank them enough,” he said. “They don’t complain. They picked up trash, dug a grave (at the cemetery), which is normally done by the street department.
“All around, they’ve done a great job.”
Putting the Plan into Action
When the pandemic first began, Davies and his staff and supervisors devised plans for this very scenario.
But what if someone inside the water department tested positive? Unlike street paving, its not a service residents can go two weeks without.
“We’re set up at the facility that if someone contracted it, no one would be allowed in the plant and we could quarantine inside to keep those guys safe,” Davies said. “We’re set up there with cots and other supplies.
“We were and are prepared. The rest is just a matter of following the recommendations.”
The big worry was someone at the city building testing positive.
Not only is the administration housed there, but the city’s police department makes its home inside the building. Finding alternative police protection on the fly is not a enjoyable prospect to entertain. Fortunately, it wasn’t necessary.
“We fogged all the buildings that day and killed any of the virus that might have been floating around to eliminate the threat,” Davies noted.
The city did purchase two of the fogging machines. They are part of the city’s ramped up cleaning protocols which are both more extensive and frequent.
One machine was bought for the EMS department, the other for street. Both are getting a workout since purchase.
