The city of Warrenton is planning for how to best reopen city facilities and help guide local businesses looking to reopen after a month of closures due to COVID-19.

City Administrator Terri Thorn said Warrenton’s plans will follow Gov. Mike Parson’s guidelines for reopening Missouri’s economy, which were announced April 27. That includes lifting the statewide stay-at-home order on May 4.

City department heads had already been drafting plans to return staff to their posts before the governor’s announcement, Thorn said. The city’s offices have been staffed by a rotating skeleton crew for several weeks, while others worked from home.

Even after returning, staff will be living under a new normal of social distancing and staggered schedules to preserve the health and safety of employees, Thorn said. Seating will be removed from common areas to ensure social distancing, and some staff will continue to work from home when appropriate, she added.

In Warrenton’s parks, Thorn said the city’s tennis courts will reopen May 4, but basketball courts and playgrounds will remain closed. The city is awaiting CDC guidelines to decide when to reopen the Warrenton Aquatic Center.

City officials have also been discussing how to guide local businesses that will begin reopening May 4. Thorn told the Warrenton Board of Aldermen April 21 that it will be important to have guidance ready for businesses that need to plan in advance for reopening.

“Many (businesses), particularly restaurants ... are going to have to not only get employees back, they’re going to have to order food and those sorts of things to be ready,” Thorn said.

City officials on Wednesday released a series of strongly recommended public health precautions for businesses planning to reopen.

Future decisions about reopening will be based on Gov. Parson announcing a second phase of recovery, Thorn said. However, if the number of local COVID-19 cases increases drastically, aldermen aren’t ruling out a return to more stringent public health measures.