SILVERHILL, Alabama — The town of Silverhill has announced that town hall will be closed temporarily because of concerns over COVID-19.
“We’re a small town and have a very limited number of staff,” said Mayor Jared Lyles in a phone interview on Aug. 4. “We just decided since there is so little business that has to be conducted in person, it was best that we close temporarily for the safety of our staff and our citizens.”
The move was announced July 29 on the Town of Silverhill Facebook page, encouraging residents to use the drop-box outside town hall for all necessary business.
Anyone with questions is encouraged to call town hall at 251-945-5198 or email the department they need.
“We have such a limited staff that if anybody is out for any reason it can cause problems,” Lyles said. “It’s out there and we just want to do everything we can to keep our employees working to help the citizens of Silverhill.”
Lyles said he could not discuss whether or not any specific town employees had been affected by the Coronavirus, saying only that “we have had our issues just like everybody else.”
Lyles said the shutdown should not affect public meetings and the fact that the Monday, Aug. 2 Town Council meeting was canceled because of a lack of a quorum was unrelated to COVID-19 issues.
“I cannot speak for everybody, but my inability to attend Monday’s meeting was completely unrelated to COVID,” he said.
The council’s next meeting is scheduled for Monday, Aug. 16 with a work session beginning at 6 p.m., followed by the regular meeting at 6:30.
Lyles said the length of the closure has been left open at this time.
“This could be a really short-term thing, but the bottom line is that we are going to do everything we can to ensure the safety of our staff and our citizens,” he said.
