MINT HILL, NC – On Monday, May 3, Mint Hill Town Hall officially reopened to the public. “We’re excited about doing business again,” says Mayor Brad Simmons. “We’ve really been conducting business throughout this whole process,” he continues, “but it doesn’t always feel like it.”
During the initial shutdown last spring, many Town Hall employees worked from home. However, with only 12-15 people working in individual offices, the Town’s employees were able to return to work safely and comfortably with a few simple modifications, like masking in hallways and common areas of the building.
“What this does is it gets us away from some of the virtual meetings,” continues Simmons. Meeting with developers, for example, can be tricky over Zoom. “Developers have to bring in plans to apply for conditional zoning,” says Simmons. “When they bring in the plans now, they can walk in the door and ask for John, who’s our planning guy. Before they had to hand the plans through the door, and we’d pass them off to John, who could look at them after they’d sat for a couple of days. This just makes it a little easier for everybody to do business.”
Reopening Town Hall also means the public can enter the building once again. While the Mayor has remained accessible by phone for office hours, Mint Hill residents with questions or concerns can now once again visit him in person. “This makes it a lot easier,” says Simmons. “I’d much rather talk face-to-face. They don’t have to have an appointment; they can just walk in the door.”
Simmons is optimistic about what the summer holds for Mint Hill as things begin to open up more. “I can’t wait for the public to get back out and interact a little bit and see each other,” he says. “Kiwanis Club has not met in forever. We’re finally going to start meeting a week from tomorrow. I spoke last week at the first in-person Chamber meeting. That’s the kind of stuff that I’m excited about. This town is all about people, interaction.”
While Simmons is encouraged by the lessened restrictions that have allowed some in-person gatherings to resume, he still encourages everyone to continue to take commonsense measures to keep themselves and everyone in the community safe. “We don’t want to let our guard down now that we’re finally getting a little bit of freedom,” says Simmons. “We want to make sure that we’re still wearing our masks. I’m still wearing my mask in the hallway, I’m still wearing my mask inside of the building.”
But above all, Simmons encourages everyone who has not done so yet to get vaccinated. “I understand some people question a little bit about it, but the vaccines are huge,” he says. “If there was some way that I can make it easier on any of them I certainly would.”
The Board of Commissioners, planning Board, Board of Adjustments and Project Advisory Committees will all return to in-person meetings with limited attendance this month for the first time in over a year. All of these meetings will continue to be available virtually. Family Fun Nights at Veteran’s Park will also return this summer, kicking off with Thirsty Horses on June 12.
