Lake Area Governments Close Buildings To Public, Postpone City Sports & Events

LAKE OF THE OZARKS, Mo. — Governments at the Lake—at the city and county level—are closing their buildings to the public, temporarily, or otherwise asking people to avoid using them.

Osage Beach, Lake Ozark, and Camden County have closed their administrative buildings to the public. Camdenton has asked the public to avoid using city hall if at all possible.

The City of Osage Beach has postponed city-run sports activities, in response to the coronavirus situation.

Osage Beach made the announcement in the following press release, sent out on Friday:

The City of Osage Beach continues to monitor the current situation as things change very rapidly since the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic. The health and safety of our community, visitors, and employees is a priority for the City of Osage Beach. We are making it a priority to deliver city services without interruptions and to prevent the spread of the virus among employees and their families. We continue to ask our community, visitors, and employees to be diligent and take precautions as recommended or instructed to do.

The Camden County Health Department, under the authority of Missouri Code of State Regulations 19 CSR 20-20.040 has ordered and declared “It is...unlawful for any person to organize or to attend an intentional gathering of 50 people of more in a single space or room...any person who organizes a gathering of 49 people of less shall take appropriate action...by implementing and enforcing mitigation measures...” And further recommended to follow the President’s 15 Days to Slow the Spread Campaign. The Camden County Health Department Order was issued on March 18, 2020.

In response to recommendations from Federal and State authorities to maximize the prevention of the illness by minimizing contact among the public and city staff, our lobbies are closed to the public, which includes City Hall and Public Works facilities, until further notice. City staff will not be traveling during this time and schedule changes are in place to protect our employees but maintain our infrastructure and deliver city services. Please utilize the following as needed;

• Use the Drop Box located in front of City Hall to deliver payments or other necessary documents to City offices,

• Download Applications or other items at https://www.osagebeach-mo.gov/71/Document- Center, for example, Public Records Request Form, Business License, etc.

• Park reservations and information https://www.osagebeach-mo.gov/2076/Make-a- Reservation

• Pay Online at https://www.municipalonlinepayments.com/osagebeachmo

• Automated Payment Hotline – 1.833.227.1755

• Call or email staff with questions, inquiries, or concerns. Staff Contact List is available at

https://www.osagebeach-mo.gov/directory.aspx.

For emergencies, call 911. The Police Department can be contacted for non-emergencies at 573.302.2010. For after-hours water or sewer emergencies contact 573.302.2010. A complete list of City office contacts and departmental information is available at www.osagebeach.org. A few contacts include;

City Administrator –

City Clerk –

Police – non-emergency – Police Records -

Public Works – Building Department – Parks Department -

573.302.2000 ext. 1010 573.302.2000 ext. 1022 573.302.2010 573.302.2010 ext. 1113 573.302.2020 573.302.2000 ext. 1063 573.302.2000 ext. 3000

Additionally, the city has suspended in-person meetings at city facilities, including Planning and Zoning Meetings, Board of Zoning Adjustment, and Liquor Control Board. City events have been postponed until further notice, this includes the Easter Egg Hunt, sports league practices and games. Due to recent mandates, court proceedings have been suspended until April 9, 2020, and municipal elections are postponed until June 2, 2020. In addition, credit/debit card fees that are currently being charged by the City to pay certain city fees online will be waived and water and sewer service disconnects are suspended until further notice.

Staff is currently working out the details to implement online Board of Aldermen meetings via video transmission. Details will be disbursed to the community once that is finalized.

We appreciate your patience as we manage this situation. Please visit www.osagebeach.org and follow us on Facebook for the most current information and updates.

Never miss any information from the City of Osage Beach; sign up for all City alerts at www.osagebeach.org. Click on the “Notify Me Sign Up” and follow the easy steps.

Lake Ozark issued this press release on Friday:

Effective at 5 p.m. today, Friday, the offices of the City of Lake Ozark will be closed to the public until further notice to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, the corona virus.

City officials said city government will continue to function as normal as possible, and personnel will continue to come to work and complete their normal daily tasks. Essential business can be conducted by phone or email.

Anyone needing to visit with a public official in person can do so by appointment only.

In addition, the City will begin accepting utility and court payments by credit card over the phone. No permanent record of credit card numbers will be kept. Please call 573-365-5378 and ask for Trisha to make your payment.

To schedule an appointment or for questions, call the number listed here. For email, send to cityadmin@cityoflakeozark.net, cityclerk@cityoflakeozark.net, or publicinfo@cityoflakeozark.net.

LOPD

Also effective at 5 p.m. today, Friday, the door to the Lake Ozark Police Department dispatch lobby will be closed to the public until further notice. The public is encouraged to call 573-365-5371 if police services are needed instead of walking into the lobby.

There is an intercom at the entrance to the police dispatch door for public use so the dispatcher can at least provide any direction necessary.

The LOPD Drug Take Back Box is in the dispatch lobby. Anyone who needs to dispose of unneeded or unwanted prescription drugs may call ahead to make arrangements.

Board meeting

The regular Lake Ozark Board of Aldermen meeting Tuesday, March 24, will be held as scheduled with some precautions planned because of the nationwide health concerns.

The six-foot social distancing recommendation, and the maximum 10 persons per grouping, will be imposed for all board members and essential staff attending the meeting which is scheduled. Personnel will be seated at safe locations around the board room. By law, a minimum of four aldermen must be present to conduct the city’s business.

The board meetings, as required by law, are open to the public. However, the public will not be seated in the board room because of the social distancing recommendation. The public will enter the City Hall through the regular business entrance one at a time and anyone wishing to address the board will be able to at a podium set up in the back of the room.

The city will strictly adhere to the 10-person recommendation. Anyone wanting to ask a question of the board can do so by emailing cityadmin@cityoflakeozark.net, or publicinfo@cityoflakeozark.net.

The board room will be sanitized, and hand sanitizer will be available to board members and the public.

The meeting begins at 6 p.m.

City officials urge residents to follow public health and CDC recommendations.

Camden County issued the following press release on Thursday:

Download PDF