Cullman County Commissioners, from left, Kerry Watson, Kenneth Walker and Garry Marchman, are seen in this screen grab from the livestream of a recent meeting from the commission’s Facebook page.

County employees working to keep essential services going through the coronavirus pandemic will get a little extra consideration in the form of additional pay.

At a specially-called meeting Friday, the Cullman County Commission approved a five percent cost of living adjustment pegged to each employee’s base pay, and calculated over a 12-week period to be paid out in a lump sum on April 9.

The additional pay applies to both full and part-time employees, so long as they are on the county payroll as of April 9, with the amount prorated for part-time employees to reflect their number of weekly hours worked.

The commission also joined other local governments’ recent action by declaring a countywide “emergency condition” at the meeting, with county attorney Emily Johnston reviewing a number of adjustments county departments have made to limit public exposure to slow the spread of disease.

The courthouse continues to be closed to the public, with all county services, from car tag renewals to voter ID and registration through the Board of Registrars, being conducted online, said Johnston.

Basic county services like water and sanitation all continue to operate without interruption in the field, but offices for both departments are closed to the public. As is the case at the courthouse, only employees are currently allowed to enter water and sanitation offices. CARTS has dialed back its bus schedule through the pandemic only to transport residents to oncology and dialysis appointments, with Johnston noting that the department is limiting ridership to two people per bus in order to comply with CDC guidelines on social distancing.

The commission also approved a contingent plan that would allow employees to accrue extra sick time at a rate of one hour per hour worked, should the county face a broad shutdown that, in the worst case, would retain only those employees (such as sheriff’s deputies and other field workers) whose services are considered essential. Chairman Kenneth Walker noted that no such shutdown scenario is currently planned.

With the courthouse closed and at the request of the commission, only commission members and county employees attended Friday’s specially-called commission meeting, which was livestreamed on the commission’s Facebook page. With the pandemic disrupting schedules and preventing large gatherings for the foreseeable future, the commission does not plan to conduct another regular meeting until May 12. Walker said the commission may call an emergency meeting before then, if the county encounters business which cannot wait until that date.