Essential services will continue through outbreak, officials in Whatcom County say

Although many businesses and public facilities are closed to help slow the spread of the new coronavirus, essential city services are continuing, local officials said.

Trash will get picked up, the lights will stay on, water will still run and the toilets will still flush — even if bars, restaurants and schools are closed and supermarkets are running low on items like toilet paper and hand sanitizer.

“The sum total of the various closures is that our community is preparing to hunker down for a while,” Bellingham Mayor Seth Fleetwood said in a video message posted on the city’s Facebook page.

Fleetwood said the city is following Whatcom County Health Department recommendations for social distancing by canceling non-essential meetings and urging residents to conduct city-related business online or by phone.

“All of the Public Works Department is at minimum staffing and we’re telling other workers to stay home and maximize social distancing,” said Eric Johnston, interim Public Works director.

“The Public Works Department in coordination with other city departments and in support of Gov. Inslee, Whatcom County Health and the CDC direction on responding to COVID-19 is taking direct action to ensure that critical public health and safety function continue uninterrupted,” Johnston said in an email. “There will be no interruption to essential public services such as water and wastewater treatment and delivery.”

Lake Whatcom Water and Sewer District, with customers in Geneva, Sudden Valley and the north shore of Lake Whatcom, also said its services were not affected.

“While information related to the COVID-19 virus seems to change by the hour, all research to date indicates that there is no impact of the virus on water supply systems,” water district General Manager Justin Clary wrote in an email.

“The district continues to operate under normal procedures, but is also planning for any impacts to staffing that the outbreak may bring,” he said. “We are also planning for future impacts that may be related to supply chain disruptions.”

Sanitary Service Co. will be making trash and recycling pickups as usual, but some changes are being made, said SSC General Manager Ted Carlson.

“People will still get their garbage picked up and their recycling picked up,” Carlson said in a voicemail. “No changes in our service at this point.”

But no bill payments will be taken at SSC’s Bellwether Avenue office and no drop-offs will be accepted at the Roeder Avenue transfer station.

“We’re practicing all of the ways to keep our drivers safe, by allowing them to kind of distancing themselves among drivers in the morning and then practicing all the safe handling that they do all the time,” he said.

Puget Sound Energy won’t disconnect customers during the pandemic emergency, the utility company said on its website.

PSE also will waive late fees.

“Even during a pandemic we are fully staffed and prepared,” said PSE spokesman Andrew Padula in a voicemail.

He pointed to PSE’s response over the past weekend in northern Whatcom County, as several thousand customers lost power in a severe windstorm.

An employee at Vanderyacht Propane in Lynden said deliveries will continue as normal.

“Our drivers don’t come into contact with customers,” said Mariah Cardona.

No in-person payments are accepted at the company’s business officer, however, she said.

Officials at the Bellingham post office referred questions to a U.S. Postal Service spokesman in Seattle, who did not respond to question Monday.

Postal customers were being served normally Monday morning at the post office on Orleans Street.

United Parcel Service said at its website that it has maintained delivery worldwide except where limited by government orders.

“In the wake of the COVID-19 virus, our highest priority is to do our part to help ensure the health and safety of our employees, customers, and suppliers while meeting our service commitments,” the company said. “Our network planning and operations teams are experienced with adapting to changing conditions, and we are developing contingency plans to address potential sources of disruption in our air and ground networks.”

This story was originally published March 16, 2020 at 1:25 PM with the headline "Essential services will continue through outbreak, officials in Whatcom County say."