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NILES — Niles Charter Township hosted its Monday board meeting as scheduled, with a different setup than the usual board members sitting before the public. Five board members attended, and were spread out through the meeting room to keep as safe a social distance between the members as possible.

The Niles Charter Township building on Bell Road in Niles has been functioning with a smaller staff amid the precautions being taken due to the COVID-19 threat. The township’s board members have encouraged the use of their drop box to pay bills, as the front door is locked to the general public walking in to do so.

“We are rotating staff,” said Terry Eull, Niles Charter Township clerk. “We have to meet to pay the bills.”

On Monday evening, $382,249.31 worth of expenditures and transfers were approved to be paid at Monday night’s meeting.

“You’ve got payroll,” Eull said. “You’ve got firemen. You’ve got to pay the Department of Public Works. You have to keep the Water and Sewer Department going. There are certain things we have to do to maintain for the public health.”

The police department also falls under that umbrella.

“You’ve got to keep those going,” Eull said.

The departments are taking precautions, like the Niles Charter Township members, to lessen their chances of catching COVID-19. Township firemen are working to stay isolated with their fellow firefighters at the fire stations. The township building has been locked to the public, but is still getting work done inside with their smaller, rotating staff.

The new schedule began for the township last week, and staff plans to continue to minimize contact with the public and rotate a smaller staff into the office through at least the end of April.

“We’ll see how long that lasts,” Eull said. “We’re probably just like everybody else.”

During the Monday night meeting, a 2010 Fort F-250 XL 4×4 pickup truck from the Department of Public Works, with a plow and cap, had a bid approved to be sold for $6,001.

The board also approved the purchase of two Gasvoda grinder pumps for the sewer department.

“People put stuff down there and it’s plugging up the lines,” Eull said. “So, you put these grinder pumps in there [to help].”

The pumps cost about $7,500 each, according to Eull.

The board also discussed how to move forward filling positions they had previously posted.

“We have to be careful now with interviewing,” Eull said. “We are not sure what we are going to do as far as starting interviews. We may wait for a couple of weeks. It’s hard telling. We discussed that, and didn’t take any action. Just trying to get guidance from the board about what we want to do.”

Eull encouraged citizens with questions or concerns to call the township office. While a smaller staff is on-site, the township is working to keep somebody in the office between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.