SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) - Springfield's mayor said bars without a commercial kitchen will not be allowed to have indoor service when Sangamon County begins allowing limited restaurant and bar capacity on Jan. 3.
Mayor Jim Langfelder issued a detailed statement following Wednesday's announcement from Sangamon County about the loosening of some COVID-19 mitigations. The county is allowing bars and restaurants to operate with 25 percent capacity beginning Jan. 3 with some restrictions in place. Readers can click here for more information.
Langfelder said he does not agree with the Sangamon County Department of Public Health's decision.
"I received the announcement from Sangamon County Department of Public Health (SCDPH) regarding their changes to the mitigation efforts late yesterday afternoon. This outline also included SCDPH’s plan for closing bars and restaurants again if metrics are not maintained," Langfelder said. "It has always been the intent of the City of Springfield that when we open our restaurants in a thoughtful stair-step approach, the opening would be permanent and our small businesses would not yet again face closure, causing the yo-yo effect of opening and closing. However, with only six days since Christmas and New Year’s Eve tonight, our focus is to insure our numbers stay low and our area schools, including School District 186, can reopen as planned on Jan. 12."
The mayor said he is strongly encouraging restaurants to stay with only takeout service until Jan. 12 in order to allow the city to collect data that can "strongly contest any spike in the numbers were not attributed to your establishments." He said restaurants could be the ones negatively affected by a post-holiday surge in COVID-19 cases.
In his remarks voicing disapproval of the county's decision, Langfelder said the move to reopen Jan. 3 is reminiscent of Halloween.
"The City had a desire to stay open for two weeks after Oct. 31, but SCDPH put a 12% mitigation factor in place and did a forced shutdown after only four days of announcing indoor restaurant capacity could be maintained at 25%," Langfelder said. "This Jan. 3 opening by SCDPH has now come with an 8% mitigation factor, and this time we actually have a vaccine. The equation and timeline that was presented yesterday is not one for success."
The mayor said he will support restaurants who choose to open under county guidance even though he doesn't agree. His decision to limit bars was explained further in the statement.
"However, as Liquor Commissioner, the City is not granting authority for bars that do not operate a commercial kitchen within the corporate limits of the City of Springfield to be open for indoor bar service at this time. Bars that do not serve food, yet choose to operate against this order, will jeopardize their liquor license," Langfelder said. "These locations have already been notified through the City’s Business Licensing Office if opening early is permissible. Staggering these opening dates will finally give us the data to show the impact that each industry has on COVID-19 case numbers."
Langfelder also advised restaurants or bars who claimed State of Illinois grants to contact the agency of service, as the agreement to accept those funds requires them to follow Illinois mitigation standards. He pointed out Sangamon County's Jan. 3 plan does not follow those policies and could require businesses to forfeit the money if they decide to reopen early.
He went on to say Springfield's mask ordinance remains in effect and proper protocols are required to be followed in order to avoid fines on individuals and businesses. He said low case numbers and hospitalizations in Springfield can be directly attributed to people complying with Springfield's mask rules and enforcement efforts.
Parents are encouraged to be cautious with their decisions in order to be sure kids can go back to in-person and/or hybrid learning in January. He said there has not been in-person instruction in School District 186 for 10 months.
"Now is not the time to jeopardize this opportunity and we must put at the forefront the betterment of our children and the health of our community," he said.
Langfelder ended his statement with a thought about his mitigation decisions.
"The decisions I make as mayor are not always easy, nor popular. However, I will always take into consideration what is best for Springfield and our community," he said. "Further information about the City of Springfield reopening will be released in the coming days.”
