Hello Ball Ground:
As you know, on Wednesday afternoon Governor Kemp announced a Shelter in Place order, but the details won’t be released until tomorrow sometime.
Shelter In Place is an odd term – more something we would think of in a hurricane or tornado warning. We need to start think more along the lines of simply Stay at Home. Don’t panic. We can be certain that this order will still allow each of us to go to the grocery store, pharmacy, doctor’s office, pick up curbside orders and to work if we work in an essential field. The Governor did announce that over 3,000 tests were being conducted a day with the University System. Therefore, the recent increase in numbers is expected, because we are testing so many more people.
With this said…………..we need everyone’s help moving forward. Please stay at home – – our ability to save lives and eventually restart the economy depends on everyone doing their part. The Governor has not yet detailed what exactly is in his order. That won’t happen until Thursday. Hopefully it will mirror many of the orders already in place in the Metro Atlanta area, and can help to bring consistency to the State and make enforcement possible.
I have asked the Police Department to step up enforcement downtown this weekend. Don’t get me wrong. We WANT you to come support our local businesses. We do not need the entire family to get out of the car and stand in line for your to-go order. Just send one person. Last weekend we had folks bring camp chairs and setting up on the sidewalk. Downtown became a place to “hang out”. We will be asking customers to get what they need and move along back to their cars. No loitering. Each of businesses is providing curb side service. Take advantage of it.
People did seem to make reasonable use of the parks last weekend. Small family groups of 3-4 people were seen with a blanket spread having a picnic and nobody within 50-60 feet. This is perfectly fine.
Now with all of that said……………..from my observations it was our residents being prudent in the parks, and a whole lot of out of town folks congregating on the sidewalks downtown.
We want to maintain our reputation as a welcoming destination for our visitors, but not at the risk of our resident’s health. So again, we will be stepping up enforcement.
One other note – We have installed a Wi-Fi hotspot in the senior center. (Same area as community building and tennis courts). It is simply named “Ball Ground Hot Spot”. Mayor Roberts had this installed specifically for our school students who do not have satisfactory internet service at home. By providing the hotspot parents can bring their children to the senior center parking lot where their child can use the hot spot to download their school assignments each day. No need to get out of the car – just upload/download and head back home. We extend our thanks to ETC (Ellijay Telephone Company) for providing this essential tool for our students.
Stay safe folks…………and if we do the right thing for the next two weeks we can begin looking at better days.
Eric
