Fargo, West Fargo move to Orange Operations for City Facilities

FARGO, ND — Both Fargo and West Fargo city leaders will move to Orange Operations for City Facilities.

Beginning Monday, October 19 the city of Fargo will make the change.

West Fargo will begin this evening at 5:00 p.m.

Orange Operations indicates the new High Risk Level for COVID-19 in Cass County.

Among the changes for the city of Fargo:

Members of the public will be required to wear masks within all City facilities at all times. City staff members continue to utilize masks, as required in employment policies.

Six-foot physical distancing will be maintained whenever possible.

Capacity for the City Commission Chambers will be reduced to 46 members of the public to ensure six-foot physical distancing for visitors and City staff; this is less than one-fourth of the Chambers capacity. Overflow seating will be available in the atrium and corridors.

All City Hall departmental reception doors will be controlled via an electronic entry system and members of the public will meet with City staff in isolated conference rooms that are sanitized after each use.

Public meetings will be conducted as legally required with a strong preference of utilizing virtual formats whenever possible.

The resident comment period at City Commission meetings will be suspended until further notice to avoid large gatherings. Residents are encouraged to contact City Commissioners via the City website.

The City of West Fargo is adjusting municipal services and building operations based on North Dakota Smart Restart guidelines to continue operating safely for both employees and the public. All changes will go into effect at 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16.

The West Fargo Public Library will remain open to the public with safety protocols in place, including the availability of masks and sanitizers, below capacity seating, suspension of programs and meeting room use at the library and the availability of self-service hold pickup and item checkout.

For more information about specific COVID-19 safety protocols or information about library events and programming held at sites outside of the library, visit www.westfargolibrary.org.

The West Fargo Police Department lobby (800 Fourth Ave. E.) will close to the public and all non-essential fingerprint appointments will be canceled.

City Hall (800 Fourth Ave. E.) will also close to the public, except for scheduled Municipal Court proceedings. Municipal Court will continue as scheduled and all parties are directed to comply with all court notices to appear. To inquire about specific court protocols, please call (701) 433-5516. The public is encouraged to utilize the drop box in front of the north entrance of the building.

The Assessing Department will not schedule any on-site property reviews for occupied buildings during the high-risk designation. Building Inspections will conduct inspections by email request only. For details, visit westfargond.gov/190/Building. Public Works and Sanitation buildings will remain closed to the public as well.

The West Fargo Fire Department is closing their stations to the public. All employees within the fire department will be wearing PPE, sanitizing thoroughly, doing temperature checks and maintaining social distance guidelines.

All public meetings will exclusively use video conference and phone participation options. To determine options for participation for a specific meeting, please check the events calendar on www.westfargond.gov. Details of these meetings are subject to change until the meeting begins, so attendees are encouraged to check the calendar as close to the meeting date and time as possible. City of West Fargo staff is also only able to meet with the public via phone or video conference while in the orange risk level.