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Norwich Township tightens building access, buys cleaning services and uses CARES funds for equipment and software
Summary
During March the board moved to reduce public access to township facilities, authorized bio-cleaning contracts, raised an emergency purchase card limit and used CARES Act dollars for EMS reporting and remote-work technology.
Norwich Township trustees took a series of operational actions in 2020 to limit COVID-19 spread, maintain emergency services and track pandemic-related costs.
On March 12 the board authorized a temporary increase to the Fire Chief’s procurement card limit (to $20,000) and approved the use of outside bio-cleaning contractors for township facilities and vehicles to reduce first-responder exposure. The trustees also suspended nonessential meeting-room use and directed the administrator to notify reservation holders.
In April the board approved a Temporary Emergency COVID‑19 Leave Policy aligning with the Families First Coronavirus Response Act to define leave for essential employees and to protect service levels. The trustees later approved CARES Act-funded purchases, including an ESO EMS reporting module ($13,825.54) to document COVID-19 exposures and a Lifepak defibrillator and hands-free CPR device ($55,684) for frontline responders. The township also bought remote-work hardware (laptops and scanner/printers) to support administrative telework.
Fiscal Officer Jamie Miles reported the township received multiple CARES Act distributions and allocated them to eligible COVID-related expenses; the board amended 2020 appropriations as funds arrived. Trustees clarified that CARES funds would cover unbudgeted pandemic expenses such as EMS reporting software, PPE, and certain communications and IT needs.
Fire Chief Jeff Warren and Police Chief Bobby Fisher said the measures were intended to preserve operational capacity for emergency services. Chief Warren emphasized the need to limit facility traffic to reduce risk to first responders and to document pandemic-related costs for state reporting.
Next steps: the board will continue to track pandemic spending, reconvene on meeting-room and building-access rules as county health guidance evolves, and require administrators to submit CARES Act expenditure reports for trustee review.
