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Rajan Zed, center, with the Vineyard Mayor Julie Fullmer, and employees from the new Vineyard Starbucks.

Courtesy Vineyard

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Vineyard Mayor Julie Fullmer poses for a portrait Tuesday, March 6, 2018, at the Vineyard Public Safety Building. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald

Isaac Hale, Daily Herald

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Mayor Julie Fullmer and members of the Vineyard City Council meet with Gov. Gary Herbert.

Courtesy Julie Fullmer

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Vineyard, which has one of the youngest populations in the state, is trying to do its part to ease the concerns of residents during the COVID-19 outbreak. One of those is helping parents who need daycare for children.

Mayor Julie Fullmer invoked a state of emergency in Vineyard on Monday. While there are no reported cases of the virus in Vineyard, Fullmer is taking precautionary measures.

That hopefully includes options for daycare.

“With children being home from school, and working and non-working parents juggling their schedules to help provide for them, we are working with our local schools’ meal plans, crisis centers for parents to have a safe place to drop off their children for times of need, compilations of resources to let people know that they are not alone, and we are here to lift them through these tough times,” Fullmer said.

The city has groups of people compiling lists for these services to help remind people of everything they can do during this time, and that as a city, they are all in this together, and intend to lift each other up, according to Fullmer.

“In big ways we are offering our public spaces for ‘safe’ daycares in coordination with the Utah League of Cities and Towns to allow people to work and provide essential services,” Fullmer said. “We have reached out to crisis centers to discuss these options for their services to help promote safe environments for families in need, and have reached out about possible designation sites testing places.”

Fullmer said she also has created a task force around the community to find ways to interact with local businesses in a way that ensures best practices.

The city has started outreach to businesses to streamline the process that can allow them to innovate their services to engage the public in a safe way.

“As a city, we are aware of the economic impact this outbreak could have on our city finances,” Fullmer said. “The city has a rainy day reserve fund in place for emergency situations such as this, and we will continue to monitor the situation and budget accordingly.”

Fullmer added, “Our priorities are to keep our residents safe by flattening the (infection) curve, keep a strong economy, encourage best practices, and make sure that we are effectively planning for the unintended consequences that often follow the measures that these goals are met by.”

According to Fullmer, volunteerism and donations are down in general. “I have created chains of groups in the community that are digitally reaching out, and setting up locations for a drive for food and toiletries for our local community centers for those going without at this time.”

Fullmer said there also is a group that is coordinating with health services to see if an appointment-based blood drive can be established.

“We heard that there are some reductions in blood, and we want to make sure we are stimulating things so that we are prepared, and our state stays as strong as it has been in resources,” Fullmer said.

She added, “Donate blood in a healthy, safe way if you are able. In small ways we are participating in community-presented ideas.”

Fullmer referred to two young residents that devised a special shamrock hunt. Julie Neal and Kelsey Spencer put it together, to help practice social distancing in a socially connected way.

“As we learn more about COVID-19 from our global neighbors, we recognize that social distancing will help us to avoid more permanent changes,” Fullmer said. “Together our plan is to prepare, simplify, encourage building, growth and innovative solutions to keep on persisting during our moment of flattening the curve.”

Vineyard residents will continue to receive their essential public services. The city also will provide remote options for employees and boards, as applicable during the outbreak.

“It’s been amazing to see the community come together during this time where things are tough,” Fullmer said. “Thank you for your kindness, your desire to help and your thoughtful solutions. I hope we can continue to work together to help each other and spread #Vineyardlove.”

For those needing information, they are asked to contact Vineyard City at any time with questions. The city office number is (801) 226-1929, or you may call Fullmer personally at (567)356-2060.