NEW: April 04, 2020 – City of Osceola Emergency Proclamation – 2020-4

From Mayor Kedley:

Due to the continued concerns, and in an effort to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19, I, Mayor Thomas J. Kedley, do hereby declare another Emergency Proclamation for the city of Osceola, IA.

I am strongly encouraging all citizens to stay home except for fulfilling essential needs. As the President, Governor and health experts have communicated numerous times, social distancing and staying at home is critical to flattening the curve in mitigating the spread of COVID-19.

We need parents involved to help keep children and minors at home and to observe the social distancing regulations enacted by our Governor. The more we observe these regulations the sooner we can mitigate this crisis.

We need to make sure we’re being part of the process and not part of the problem.

If you have immediate questions, please feel free to reach out to me directly.

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See full proclamation below.

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In cooperation with national, state, and local health and emergency management efforts, the City of Osceola will be shutting down all non-essential municipal services and facilities effective immediately, through April 30, 2020. All members of the public are asked to remain patient during these extraordinary times. If you are in need of immediate assistance, please advise staff will remain on-call:

• Street Department– 641-414-1294
• Sewer Department– 641-414-1639
• Building Inspections– 641-414-3727
• Parks and Rec– 641-414-2068
• Cemetery– 641-414-4060
• Administration– 641-414-2225
• Mayor– 563-249-1330

ESSENTIAL SERVICES SHALL CONTINUE TO OPERATE, AS NORMAL.

We thank you in advance for your cooperation. Stay safe!

You can click the image to the side to open, view, and Print a PDF of the City of Osceola’s Emergency Proclamation.

EMERGENCY PROCLAMATION 2020-4

WHEREAS, the World Health Organization has reported an outbreak of thousands of cases of Novel Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) in multiple countries, causing illness and deaths; and

WHEREAS, on January 31, 2020, the United States Department of Health and Human Services declared a national public health emergency; and

WHEREAS, on March 9, 2020, a Proclamation of Disaster Emergency was issued to coordinate the State of Iowa’s response to this outbreak and such disaster continues to exist; and

WHEREAS, on March 11, 2020 the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a global pandemic; and

WHEREAS, on March 13, 2020, President Donald J. Trump issued a proclamation declaring that the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States constitutes a national emergency; and

WHEREAS, on March 17, 2020, a Proclamation of Public Health Disaster Emergency was issued to provide additional needed resources and measures to respond to this disaster, and such public health disaster continues to exist; and

WHEREAS, on March 17, 2020, the Mayor issued Emergency Proclamation 2020-1 declaring that That a state of emergency or public danger exists within the City of Osceola because of the threat of the spread of the COVID-19 virus; and,

WHEREAS, President Trump extended the COVID-19 guidelines through April 30, 2020; and,

WHEREAS, Governor Reynolds extended the State Public Health Emergency to April 30, 2020; and,

WHEREAS, Section 15.02(2) of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Osceola and Section 372.14(2) of the Code of Iowa (2019) grant the Mayor powers to declare an emergency and govern through proclamation to protect the health and safety of the citizens of Osceola.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Thomas J. Kedley, the duly elected Mayor of the City of Osceola, Iowa, do hereby proclaim until further notice the following:

1. That a state of emergency for the City of Osceola because of the threat of the spread of the COVID-19 virus is henceforth extended through April 30, 2020.
2. I hereby declare that all non-essential operations of the City of Osceola shall remain shut-down through 11:59 pm on April 30, 2020. Essential operations shall be carried out in a manner consistent with the guidelines provided by the Iowa Department of Public Health and the CDC.  Official meetings of the Osceola City Council shall be exclusively viewable through the City’s online live-stream service.   Agendas shall be viewable in the vestibule of City Hall, which shall remain open as normal.  All City Board and Commission meetings shall be held electronically per the guidance provided by the Iowa Public Information Board.
3. All City-owned, non-essential public facilities shall be closed to the public.
4. All recreation programming shall be suspended until further notice.
5. All city owned park spaces, including play-ground areas, city-owned athletic fields, water access facilities, skate parks, and the golf course are closed until further notice. Trails shall remain open.
6. Gatherings of ten (10) or more people are prohibited until further notice. Loitering in any City parking facility is prohibited.  All citizens are asked to practice safe social distancing, maintaining a distance of six (6) from one another at all times possible.
7. That this Proclamation of Emergency may be modified and/or superseded by future proclamation of the Office of the Mayor of Osceola, Iowa as future events warrant.
8. That this proclamation of the Office of the Mayor of the City of Osceola, Iowa, shall be enforceable by the Osceola Police Department and any violation of the same shall be a violation of Section 15.02(2) of the Code of Ordinances and punishable as a simple misdemeanor.
9. That Governor Reynold’s proclamation dated March 17, 2020, and all subsequent proclamations, shall be enforceable by the Osceola Police Department, in its entirety.
10. More information will be shared with the public as it becomes available.

Dated this 3rd day of April, 2020.