04-24-20 Douglas County Commissioners to Reopen Courthouse

Douglas Co. Government

(Douglas County, Ore.) Your Douglas County Board of Commissioners would like to announce that they will be reopening the Douglas County Courthouse for public access on Monday, April 27, 2020.  The opening will incorporate very strict social distancing procedures for county employees, as well as for the visiting public.  All County Departments will resume normal hours of operation on Monday, April 27, with the exception of the Fairgrounds and Museum.  Due to the current COVID-19 orders from our Governor, the Douglas County Fairgrounds, the Douglas County Museum and the Umpqua Lighthouse Museum will remain closed.

Commissioners continue to urge citizens to follow the Governors executive orders to ‘Stay Home, Save Lives.’

In order to provide a safe and healthy workplace for our employees and the visiting public, we ask that you only visit the courthouse if necessary and to please stay home if you are sick.  We encourage citizens to continue to utilize our online, email and phone systems as your primary point of service.  For citizens who need to visit and conduct business at the courthouse, we strongly encourage you to call the office beforehand to schedule an appointment.  Departmental contact information is listed on the county’s website.  We ask all citizens to exercise appropriate caution personally, as well as act responsibly to maintain a healthy, supportive and safe environment for our employees and others around you.  If you are visibly sick, you will be asked to leave.  Please follow posted guidelines for department and building use in regards to entering offices, standing in line, gathering and keeping your distance from others.  For the safety of everyone, please keep at least 6-feet between you and everyone else at all times, wash your hands often, wear a mask when possible, use hand-sanitizer and stay home if you are sick.  Hands-free sanitizers will be available at the main entrances to the courthouse, and each individual department will have hand sanitizer and masks available for the public.   

Your Douglas County Commissioners have aggressively made changes over the past few weeks to all County Departments in order to enforce strict physical distancing guidelines which include:
  • Expanding work station spacing in office areas.
  • Prohibiting gatherings and close work proximity.
  • Cancelling all unnecessary meetings.
  • Installing Plexiglas sneeze guards in departments that work with the public.
  • Organizing staggered work and break schedules for employees.
  • Determining office traffic patterns for employees and visitors.
  • Obtaining a supply of masks for employees and visitors (as needed).
  • Making hands-free sanitizing stations and in office sanitizer available.
  • Performing daily cleaning and disinfecting of touched surfaces such as desks, counters, door knobs, push/pull fixtures, hand rails, bathrooms and locks. 
Additionally, we will be making a few changes to our Douglas County Park system in the near future.  In the meantime, we will continue to keep county operated parking lots, boat ramps and docks open for public access. We have also reopened our park reservation lines, so patrons can start making future reservations.   Call (541) 957-7001 for more information.

We are all in this together, so help us to keep our county employees and citizens safe.

DC BOC

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