Limited Hours; Employees and Visitors Required to Wear Masks
For Immediate Release – May 28, 2020
Middletown, NJ – Middletown Township today announced its Phase-In Plan to begin reopening municipal facilities to the public. Town Hall (1 Kings Highway), Croydon Hall (900 Leonardville Road, Leonardo), the offices at Poricy Park Nature Center (345 Oak Hill Road), the Department of Public Works (52 Kanes Lane) and the Health & Social Services Department (180 Main Street, Port Monmouth) will all reopen on Monday, June 1, 2020 with limited hours noted in the included schedule. Tax Collection will reopen to the public with limited hours on Tuesday, June 2.
All employees and visitors will be required to wear masks when interacting in Township buildings. Hand sanitizer will be available at all public counters. There will be Plexiglas shields and floor markings showing 6 ft. separations placed where appropriate. “As our Township facilities begin to reopen, we will do everything we can to ensure the health and safety of our employees and residents,” said Township Administrator Tony Mercantante.
Phase-in public access to Township facilities will include:
- One entrance: Public can queue outside building and it will be monitored by MTPD.
- Police will have one officer stationed at each municipal building to ensure guidelines are followed.
- Each department will determine the number of walk-ins that can be serviced safely at one time, given proper social distancing.
“Now that we have flattened the curve of COVID-19, Township buildings will begin to reopen to the public in a responsible way, “ said Mayor Tony Perry. “It is imperative that we provide the community with a comprehensive timeline of our reopening plan so we can begin to move forward."
Township facilities are expected to be fully open to the public by Monday, July 6, however this decision will be based on experiences during this first phase and by overall trends and rates of COVID-19 infection. The public is still encouraged to conduct municipal business remotely by phone, e-mail and virtual meetings with Township employees. Visitors should call the department they are going to ahead of time to see if an appointment is needed. Click HERE for a Township Directory.
Fire Prevention, Purchasing, Human Resources, Planning and Information Technology will begin public hours on Monday, June 15 and specific hours will be announced. The Middletown Arts Center, Senior Center and Township preschool programs shall remain closed until further notice.
The Middletown Township Public Library (55 New Monmouth Road) is collecting checked out items on Mondays and Thursdays from 11:00 AM -3:00 PM. Patrons are asked to drop off the items in color-coded bins by the regular drop box near the exit of the library. All materials are still on extended due dates, and patrons may hold on to their materials if they cannot drop them off. All materials returned to the library will be isolated and handled with proper safety measures in place. The MTPL will be announcing the return of library services such as curb side pick-up in the near future. Visit www.mtpl.org for updates.
For updates, follow Middletown on Facebook (Middletown NJ Town Hall), Twitter (@middletownnj), Instagram (middletown.township) and YouTube (Middletown Township NJ). You can also get information via the Township’s website (www.middletownnj.org), TV channel (Comcast Channel 20 and Verizon FiOs Channel 26) and weekly e-newsletter Middletown Minutes (www.middletownnj.org/subscribe).
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