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Employees of the City of Greenville will begin working next week to reopen city offices to the public the following week.

Mayor Dexter McLendon said the goal is to open the offices safely on June 1. City officials will make the determination next week and likely open with some restrictions in place that Monday. Offices have been closed since mid-March due to the spread of COVID-19. Currently, Butler County is considered one of the “hot spots” in the nation.

“I think that’s the key (with numbers rising),” McLendon said. “Next Tuesday is the day we considered opening up, but the thing that comes back to us is – we’re taking care of everything. We’re taking care of people over the phone and we’re doing everything.”

McLendon said the city’s plan was going to phase things in.

“Our plan is to have the employees come in next Tuesday – we’ve got to get ready,” he said.  “We need a few days. I don’t know right now, but it’s probably going to be June 1. We have some changes to adjust to. Probably City Council meetings will be held at Beeland Park because it’s a larger room and we can put chairs out and separate the council and conduct business and leave.”

McLendon said city residents need to remember three dates.

“May 26 – Tuesday, when we’re coming back in,” he said. “We’re going to make sure we’ve got everything done. June 1, which will be (the) next Monday and we’ll open up. We probably will have a City Council meeting on June 1, but that could change. The third date is June 15. June 15 will be for a lot of things that we haven’t opened up such as ballgames and different things in the recreation program. It gives us three more weeks to figure out things.”

McLendon also said he and his wife, Janice, are on the mend from battling their own cases of COVID-19. Both tested negative for the virus last week.

“We tested Monday and got the results back Tuesday night about 7:30,” McLendon said. “You’d have thought we won the lottery. We were screaming and hollering – excited.”

The longtime mayor spoke about his experience with the virus during the pandemic.

“There were about five days when it was pretty tough,” he concluded. “It’s crazy – I just never thought I’d see something like this. I wouldn’t wish this on anybody. It takes a lot out of you.”