MANSFIELD — The City of Mansfield government offices will be open for business as usual on April 8, the day a total solar eclipse crosses the region.
Mansfield Mayor Jodie Perry made the announcement Monday during a solar eclipse prep press conference arranged by the Richland County Emergency Management Agency.
Richland County commissioners announced March 12 that county offices would be closed on Eclipse Day when as many as 250,000 visitors may flock to the area for the once-in-a-lifetime astronomical event.
“The city is structured a little different than the county,” Perry said during the meeting inside the EMA emergency operations center. “Beyond just police and fire, we need people out at the Clear Fork Reservoir to make sure the dam is protected.
“People in the parks, the airport … there was just enough of the departments that were going to have to respond in some way that we decided to leave offices open,” Perry said.
In Richland County, the eclipse experience will begin at approximately 1:57 p.m. Totality is expected to begin at 3:12 p.m. and local residents (and guests) can expect 3 minutes and 12 seconds of daytime darkness.
Local planning efforts, led by county EMA Director Rebecca Owens, began a year ago and have included more than 40 community informational meetings.
The press conference Monday featured city and county officials, including Mansfield Safety Service Director Keith Porch and police Chief Jason Bammann. All three county commissioners were in attendance, as was Sheriff Steve Sheldon.
“As far as our planning and preparations are for the eclipse, obviously we are seven days (away) and counting,” Owens said.
“I think many us many of us will be glad for that April 9th date. Hopefully we will be relieved and excited because we had a great event,” she said.
Owens said the weather will be a big determinant on the crowds expected in Richland County and other Ohio locations in the wide swath of “eclipse totality.”
According to the National Weather Service in Cleveland, there is a 70 to 80 percent chance of cloud cover in the Richland County area on April 8. (see graphic below)
“Obviously the weather is our million-dollar question,” Owens said. “We don’t know what it will be.
“I’m really hoping the fact that it’s gonna be rainy and gross for the next four days, we’ll get this out of the way and get it moving forward and then we’ll be able to have a nice weekend,” she said.
“But stay tuned for that. Obviously, the National Weather Service will be providing daily updates to us beginning (Tuesday) with some very thorough information on what we can expect,” she said.
Porch said the city’s safety forces, including police and fire departments, will have extra staff on hand April 8.
“We have developed a plan. We’re going to be using technology, along with our (officers) on the day of the event to make sure we have video surveillance in the downtown area, based off of the events that are going to be occurring in the downtown,” Porch said.
“We will essentially have first- and second-shift (of the MPD on duty), so we will have in the neighborhood of 25 officers that day,” Porch said.
He also noted the Mansfield Fire Department will have an extra rescue squad, meaning six will be on duty April 8.
Porch said the city has a mutual aid agreement with the RCSO and neighboring communities.
“If anything should happen anywhere within Richland County, we wanted to make sure Mansfield police and Mansfield fire could respond as needed to any of those events throughout Richland County,” he said.
“I believe we are well-prepared to deal with the knowns at this time. Of course, there are unknowns. We don’t know, ultimately, what crowds will be within Richland County (or) in the Mansfield area. But from what we do know, we believe we’re very well prepared to deal with the scenario that’s presented,” Porch said.
Richland County Commissioner Cliff Mears praised the planning efforts of Owens and the local EMA office.
“There are very few activities I’ve been involved in that have been this proactive. Much of the credit goes to Rebecca Owens, the director of EMA, who’s been able to construct so many partnerships with so many organizations. I think we’re as prepared as we can possibly be,” Mears said.
RCSO Capt. Jim Sweat said Sheldon thanked all of the “public safety partners” in the lead-up to the eclipse event.
“I know one of the key points for the sheriff has always been those inner communications and the ability to communicate and have great partnerships and we appreciate that,” Sweat said.
“We’ve worked hard with our public safety partners throughout the county. That ranges from volunteer fire agencies all the way up to full-time agencies with the City of Mansfield, including our part-time law enforcement partners, all the way up to the full-time law enforcement partners.
“We believe we’re well-situated to handle whatever may come at us this weekend or next and through beginning of Monday and next week,” Sweat said.
Owens, who again reminded residents of the need for proper eyewear for those who want to look at the sun during the eclipse, said local officials have worked tirelessly to engage different segments of the community.
“(I want to give) a shout-out to all those who assisted with the event planning. My list is endless, so I couldn’t even begin to to name all of those. But I really want to again thank the officials here today and their collaboration and also to the community at large because we know, as everyone has been sharing with us, this is a once-in-a-lifetime event,” Owens said.
“We want to make it a once-in-a-lifetime event for everyone visiting our community and really make them feel welcome, safe and secure and enjoy our community as they come for the eclipse.
“Hopefully, they’ll be return visitors after that, as well.”