thermometers to give to businesses . Eco Lab donated hand sanitizer . There was also a box of masks included in the gift bags that were donated by Lunds- Byerlys .
“ We know all the costs associated with staying open are difficult , so we wanted to make sure businesses had the very basic things they needed to ensure the safety of their employees and patrons ,” said Collins .
White Bear Lake
The biggest challenge faced by city officials in White Bear Lake during the pandemic was the need to make constant pivots . “ In the initial weeks of the pandemic , information and rules were changing daily . It was a challenge to define our role in informing residents and businesses about this unfamiliar and unsettling reality as federal , state and county jurisdictions were trying to build capacity in this unchartered territory ,” said Ellen Hiniker , City Manager for White Bear Lake .
Hiniker added that the city was fortunate to have a strong relationship with the White Bear Lake Economic Development Corporation , the Chamber of Commerce , the downtown business community and countless volunteers that support local service organizations . “ We capitalized on this network to distribute information about programs and financial assistance provided through the CARES Act . We also leaned on this network to collaborate on the ‘ ReGrow WBL ’ initiative and promote local shopping and dining ,” said Hiniker .
Throughout the past year , city officials participated in regular meetings with area non-profits organized through the Greater White Bear Lake Community Foundation . The meetings kept the city current with the needs of residents , and informed officials ’ recommendations for financial assistance programs made possible through CARES Act dollars .
With the exception of the Sports Center and License Bureau , all departments continued to operate throughout the pandemic . After a few weeks , the
License Bureau had transformed from walk up service to appointments only . The Sports Center was shut down for a longer period of time due to restrictions on gathering .
In-person service has now resumed for all departments except driver ’ s licenses , which still require an appointment . Hiniker expects that it will be business as usual in 2021 , though she does anticipate that more people will rely on the city ’ s on-line services even after the pandemic is behind us .
Shoreview
One of the biggest challenges the City of Shoreview has faced is a loss of revenue . “ Shoreview has been hit particularly hard because we have a community center here and the community center had to be closed for almost three months . That was a significant impact on revenues , on our membership , people being able to work out ,” said Terry Schwerm , City Manager for Shoreview .
Other challenges Shoreview has faced , how to best keep staff safe while still providing essential services , how to keep City Hall safe , and how to do council meetings when they could no longer be done in person . Meetings were moved online right away when the pandemic struck , but the transition wasn ’ t easy .
“ We weren ’ t as prepared as we would have liked to be . We tried to switch to ZOOM , but had technical issues , sound issues that made it hard . We had to reprogram , buy some additional equipment and work with an A / V company to make some changes ,” said Schwerm .
Speaking of change , it has been a constant in the past year . In addition to moving meetings online , City staff has started up new programs that didn ’ t exist before , including a daycare program for essential workers , and “ Rec in a Box ” which brought recreation opportunities to people who were unable to come to the recreation center .
“ I think cities in general have really tried to step up and be creative . Staff has responded in meaningful ways and worked hard to make sure services continue ,” said Schwerm .
Maplewood
The City Manager for Maplewood credits the IT Department for really stepping up to the challenges presented by COVID early on , and keeping the city running . “ Our IT people really did a good job of ramping up and getting our people the technology they needed to work from home while we were sheltering in place ,” said Melinda Coleman .
“ Our managers already had laptops . Our IT department was able to secure more , and a fair share of our employees ended up working from home .”
Once it was deemed okay to return to the office , plexiglass was put up throughout the City Hall building to keep people safe , and work schedules were staggered so there would only be a small number of people working inside the building at any given time .
Coleman said City Council meetings have continued as planned throughout the pandemic , though they switched from in person meetings to virtual ones . The City ’ s Public Safety and Public Works departments have been up and running at full capacity the entire time as well . However , several employees of Parks and Recreation had to be laid off .
At the height of the pandemic , the City of Maplewood turned to the YMCA for help serving people who were challenged with food insecurity . “ We served over 60,000 meals last year in our partnership with the YMCA . We also partnered up on a farm-to-family food distribution that provided 3,600 boxes of fresh food to people in cooperation with the U . S . Department of Agriculture ,” said Coleman .
Other partners that helped Maplewood make it through the pandemic have included Ramsey County and the White Bear Chamber , which helped out by proving local business loans and grant opportunities . “ We used some of
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