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WIESBADEN, Germany – The U.S. Army Garrison Wiesbaden filmed a town hall March 9 and posted it on Facebook for community viewing.
Garrison Commander, Col. Mario Washington, hosted the town hall, along with subject matter experts from across the Garrison to provide information on COVID, mask policies, updates on housing, child and youth services and other garrison-related topics.
The subject matter experts participating in the town hall video were Capt. Evan Kohoutek, Wiesbaden public health nurse, Rashunda Gay, coordinator of Child and Youth Services, Dr. Jason TerHorst with the Department of Defense Education Activity, Lt. Col. Jon Jackson, director of the Directorate of Emergency Services; Don Meyer, housing director at the Directorate of Public Works and Jordan Flint, general manager of the Wiesbaden Exchange service.
Col. Washington started the town hall assuring audience members that the safety and well-being of the Wiesbaden community is the number one priority of the leaders here in Germany. He emphasized that leadership will ensure the community is safe and said the state department would be in charge of planning any non-combatant evacuations, but we are not at that point yet.
Questions brought up for discussion prior to the town hall included numerous mask-policy issues. The Garrison leaders participating in the town hall explained that guidance for the Wiesbaden mask policy resides with the Senior Responsible Officer.
“We continue to assess and re-assess our environment and the changes around us,” Washington explained. The CDC, host nation, medical clinic and partners here at garrison all have input to our SRO, Washington said.
“We put in place the guidance and policy that is best for us here, but it is always and will always change, depending on what is happening here,” he said.
Terhorst confirmed that according to the SRO’s recent guidance, students riding busses to school should not have to wear masks, but the busses are contracted through the host nation and sometimes the Garrison guidance does not filter down to the drivers as quickly as expected. He asked that parents contact the bus point of contact at the school to express those concerns.
Gay explained that new guidance for mask wearing at child and youth services and at the child development center will be updated this week. Their guidance is based on COVID community levels, she explained.
“Once we get to HP Alpha, we can get back to normal, and parents will be able to enter our facilities again,” she said.
Another issue brought up is the price of fuel. Flint explained that prices would fluctuate every few days, but Flint reminded the audience that the Exchange can’t price fuel lower than the average price.
“It is a personal choice regarding how an individual uses and buys fuel,” Washington said. “It is a collective effort. It is a personal choice if you decide you want to travel. We cannot enforce whether or not a person uses fuel. Gas is already rationed,” he said.
There were several questions geared towards the medical facility here. One take away is that the trace team can facilitate COVID testing for official travel with the clinic for those who need it.
Capt. Kohoutek further explained that if community members are having a hard time trying to connect with health care providers by phone, they should use their secure messaging service or TRICARE online.
Another issue discussed was the parking spaces on post and if there is a possibility of having more parking spaces available.
“We do not have a parking problem here,” Washington said. “We have a walking problem. There are plenty of parking spaces, that are not used, in the two parking garages we have here,” he said. He urged residents to use the parking garages and leave the parking spaces at the business facilities for use by customers.
These quarterly town halls help the Garrison get after housing topics, and this iteration was no different.
The topic of hosting Ukraine refugees in government housing was also brought up. Meyer emphasized that government housing is for Department of Defense personnel only. “We all want to help, but we are restricted from providing housing for the evacuees,” he said.
Meyer said that the Garrison follows host-nation law for those who live off post and encouraged the community to check on host-nation guidance and to talk with their landlords if they rent housing off post.
The housing chief also reviewed trash pickup around the housing areas. “You have to put the trash in the containers or the contracted trash-pickup employees will not remove it,” Meyer said. He reminded the audience that residents can call their moving company after their housing shipments have been unpacked and ask them to come back and pick up the empty boxes. “If you do not want to do that, then you need to use the recycling center to dispose of your items or break down the boxes and place them inside the trash containers,” he said.
He also noted that spring cleanup is scheduled for April 4-8 and now is a good time to get unwanted items out and disposed of. He also noted that the community should watch the Garrison Facebook page for upcoming information on the clean-up.
“Our mission here has not changed,” Washington said. “The safety of everyone here is our number one priority. We want policies and guidance that helps everyone to be successful.”
Questions not answered during the live town hall will be sent to the appropriate directorates for answers as needed. The next quarterly town hall date and format will be announced on the Garrison’s website and social media pages when further details are finalized.
| Date Taken: | 03.10.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 03.10.2022 08:40 |
| Story ID: | 416169 |
| Location: | WIESBADEN, HESSEN, DE |
| Web Views: | 390 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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