EAST PEORIA, Ill. — During Tuesday night’s East Peoria City Council meeting, commissioners remain supportive of the city’s phased reopening.
Commissioner Mark Hill reminded residents that right now is not a free-for-all in East Peoria.
“The social distancing and some of the other measures are part of that plan,” Hill said.
Officials plan to monitor the health measurements.
“Based on the science measure, we were going to continue to follow the measurements that we’ve been watching for seven weeks,” Hill said. “Although they weren’t physically defined in that plan, there was no intention of not monitoring that.”
Commissioner Dan Decker said the city is taking the smart approach to opening back up.
“I don’t care about left, right, center, doesn’t matter. We just all need to work together to figure out a solution. And, I’m just thankful that we’re working towards one,” Decker said.
Citizens can stay home if they wish said Commissioner Michael Sutherland.
“I believe that the people that want to open up should be able to open up. This is still America, and all politics is local,” Sutherland said.
Different measures should be taken in southern parts of the state, according to Sutherland.
Commissioner Seth Mingus said this is a situation where there may never be an agreement between two sides.
The plan is balanced according to Mingus.
“Between protecting people’s safety, and opening the economy to let people to make a living, and to start jump-starting the businesses that have been sitting idle. I feel that this plan does that,” Mingus said.
While not everyone agrees with the phased reopening plan, Mayor John Kahl asks citizens to remain respectful.
“All of us recognize the health concerns related to the coronavirus which is new. We’ve been respectful through April 30 of the decisions made to date protecting the health our citizens,” Kahl said.
But the past 45 days have not been easy for businesses.
“At the local level here, it was imperative to try to find that balance between protecting the health and protecting the livelihoods of those we’ve sworn to serve,” Kahl said. “We encourage our residents to exercise personal responsibility and please remain respectful.”
Kahl said at the end of the day, there has to be a path forward.
