Franklin County Services Continue, County Commission Office, Other Departments Closed to Walk-in Traffic

Local County and municipal governments are doing what they can to continue to serve citizens while taking steps to protect their employees.

In Franklin County, the County Commission office and county services are in full operation.

However, Tuesday afternoon County Manager Beth Thomas announced most county offices, including the County Commission office, is now closed to walk-in traffic.

That includes the Tax Commissioner and Tax Assessor’s offices as well as the Board of Elections and Registrations office.

“I would recommend that they call the appropriate departments. Our operations are still open and our staff is here to make sure that essential services continue. The Board of Commissioner line is open. If we need to transfer calls to the appropriate department we are happy to do so,” Thomas explained.

The County has also canceled all activities and events at the County Recreation Center and they have closed the Senior Center building on Highway 145 until further notice.

Thomas emphasized however, they are still delivering meals to those seniors who need them.

“We will continue the home-delivered meals for as long as the staff is allowed to,’ she said. “We are trying to plan accordingly for the meals to make sure the clients have food in their home so that we can run some reduced routes, but still leave them with the same amount of food,” she explained.

Thomas said Tuesday, at this stage, they are still evaluating whether the next County Board of Commission meetings will be open to the public.

“The next one out is still a little bit away and of course we’re still getting information regarding laws and open meeting records impacting how those meetings can occur. So, right now there has not been any decision and we will carry on as always. We will continue to re-evaluate as the situation progresses,” Thomas said.

The next BOC meeting is the end-of-the-month work session on Tuesday, March 31st.

Meantime, the County has set up a Community Health and Information page, Thomas said, that will help keep citizens informed of any county notices or changes.

That address is https://www.franklincountyga.gov/coronavirus/.