By Teddy Rydquist
Leader Staff Writer
Residents preferring to pay their bills in-person at the Charter Township of Oxford will have to find a temporary change of plans. Located at 300 Dunlap Rd., the front doors of the building began adorning signs on March 16 informing residents of the closure to the public.
“The township office is still open for employees and officials, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.,” Clerk Curtis Wright explained. “We can still be reached by telephone and e-mail, too.”
This is how all business will be conducted at the offices for the time being due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. As the sign on the doors say, “There will be no person-to-person transactions related to the building department, treasurer’s office, clerk’s office and supervisor’s office.
“Any and all township business must be conducted via e-mail, telephone, United States mail or the drop box located at the front entrance.”
The township has also suspended all Board of Trustees and Planning Commission meetings until further notice. Residents do not have to fear missing out on any important information during this delay as all decisions required by the board have been temporarily tabled, too.
“The Oxford Township Facebook page is an option for residents to continue to communicate,” Wright pointed out.
Addison Township has taken similar steps with their offices, located at 1440 Rochester Rd. in Leonard.
“At this time, we are not planning to have April meetings,” Township Supervisor Bruce Pearson shared. “Meetings beyond April will be determined once we get closer to May and can assess the situation at that time.”
Oxford Village, however, is exploring an avenue to keep a lot of their systems running as usual. At the urging of the Michigan Municipal League, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued executive order 2020-15 on March 18, granting local units of government “the ability to conduct public meetings through remote access technology, including conference calling, real-time streaming or other platforms.”
Tuesday’s council meeting was expected to take place via teleconference. No information from that meeting was available at press time.