Sterling, Colorado

7 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 3, ISSUE 5 STERL ING, COLORADO is a testament to the strength of this tight-knit community. With the fire department providing ambulance transport for the community’s 911 service, Chief Ritter explains that they continued to meet the needs of the city, while protecting employees and keeping morale high. He reports, “We were prepared, we had masks and gowns and all the PPE that we needed before it really hit out here. Through the different waves, there’s been a couple of times where N95s were a little tough to get, but all in all the fire service did very, very well through this pandemic.” Keeping shifts isolated from each other and scaling back community events and inspections were strategies the fire department used to ensure there were able bodies in case of an outbreak, which Ritter says fortunately did not happen. Police Chief Tyson Kerr reports similar strategies for his team to keep people safe, while ensuring adequate levels of staff. He says, “It was an extremely difficult time, we had changes in terms of the calls that we responded to. We backed off on a lot of the proactive things, making sure our emergency response capabilities remained at a high level. We were provided with a lot of personal protective equipment by the city, the state, and the federal government. That made things a little bit easier and made sure that our team knew that they were valued. We gave them the equipment they needed to still go out and do their jobs, which was absolutely vital, during a very difficult time.” Supporting business owners throughout the pandemic remained a priority for the city, with efforts focused on keeping doors open as much as possible. Kerr recalls, “There was a lot of communication between business owners and the city about mandates and everything that was happening. While some of the things were outside of our control because they were state or federally mandated, the city and the community came together, and it strengthened some relationships that were already there, as well as creating some partnerships that may not have existed.” The community also continued to support local companies during COVID, with sales tax increasing steadily since 2019. “People couldn’t do a lot of traveling like they did in the past, which triggered them to spend more of their money locally,” Blankenship says. “It looks like,