News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
McMinnville Mayor Ryle Chastain has relaxed COVID precautions in the city starting Tuesday.
Chastain ordered several COVID protocols in August which closed public lobbies and mandated masks on city property. Chastain said residents now have full access to city facilities with masks optional.
“Just like the numbers went up so high, so fast they more or less have taken a steep decline,” Chastain said. “At this point after conferring with other members of the board, we just decided that we figured it would be okay to end all those precautions.”
Chastain said classes at the recreational center have also resumed as well as events at Park Theater. Municipal Court has moved back to the board room on the second floor at City Hall. Planning Commission, BZA and Historic Zoning meetings also move back to the board room on the second floor at City Hall.
“The numbers were going up so high, so fast that we were worried about the safety of our city workers,” Chastain said. “Because if a department at the city were to get sick say the police department or the fire department, we would be up a creek without law enforcement or public safety in place. The same is true for the water department and public utilities.”
Chastain said as a hospital supervisor in McMinnville, he saw the effects of COVID daily. Chastain said seeing what was going on real time played a role in implementing the strict guidelines in August.
“Even here in McMinnville, I saw people unfortunately pass away of things that could be treated at other larger healthcare facilities, but we couldn’t send people anywhere, because they were all full of COVID patients all across the state,” Chastain said. “(…) That played a role.”
