The Kennesaw City Council met for its regular meeting Monday on the heels of Gov. Brian Kemp’s announcement of his plans to reopen Georgia, but city staff will meet with Mayor Derek Easterling Tuesday regarding how to move forward.

“Based on the governor’s orders that came out earlier this afternoon…we’ll be meeting tomorrow to plan our next steps, where we go from here and what that means for facilities, programs, events, parks and everything. And the mayor will be part of that meeting as well,” said City Manager Jeff Drobney.

The council meeting, which was conducted via Zoom and streamed on Facebook, took only about 15 minutes with the only two agenda items being approval of the previous meeting’s minutes and the appointment of Lacey Ragus to the planning commission. However, council members addressed the city’s reopening in their personal remarks.

“I caution everybody not to go crazy all at once and continue to do what’s comfortable for you and your family safety wise, but I am excited to go out to dinner again instead of takeout,” said Councilman David Blinkhorn.

“It’s been very encouraging seeing everybody walk downtown and out exercising. I hope that’s something that stays with us when we get back to a new normal,” said Councilwoman Tracey Viars.

Assistant City Manager Marty Hughes monitored the official email account being used for public comment, but said none were received. Some Kennesaw residents watching the live feed posted questions during the meeting to the city’s Facebook account, but those are not monitored during the meeting.

One viewer asked if Swift-Cantrell Park will be open Friday and another about whether businesses will reopen. Another viewer posted “How do you plan to keep our citizens safe when the COVID-19 cases are still on the rise?”

“I know we’re all looking forward to having Kennesaw reopen, having our whole state reopen, and getting back to a different kind of normal,” Easterling said.

Rebecca Gaunt earned a degree in journalism from the University of Georgia and a master’s degree in education from Oglethorpe University. After teaching elementary school for several years, she returned to writing. She lives in Marietta with her husband, son, two cats, and a dog. In her spare time, she loves to read, binge Netflix and travel.