Track Inn Restaurant / Facebook
With Chillicothe no longer enforcing Gov. JB Pritzker’s Tier 3 COVID-19 restriction prohibiting indoor dining, Track Inn Restaurant co-owner Linda Callahan feels a degree of stress has been lifted for her 18 employees.
The City Council on Monday repealed an ordinance approved last year that required enforcement of the COVID restrictions, also voting to dismiss citations issued to Track Inn and Banana’s Beach Bar.
“It s a relief. It helped make my employees a little bit more relaxed today,” Callahan said Tuesday. “I mean, we ve all been under a lot of stress over it and we just feel like we re actually able to breathe a little bit easier right now.”
CHILLICOTHE Within 15 minutes, the Chillicothe City Council fired a shot across the bow of the state of Illinois by repealing an ordinance that would require enforcement of COVID-19 restrictions on businesses, including restaurants and bars.
Unlike a committee meeting last week that lasted two hours and had dozens of people speaking out in person and on Zoom, Monday night s meeting had little drama, discussion or fanfare.
Instead, it almost felt like a foregone conclusion that the council would repeal the ordinance that mandated that village police officers enforce Gov. JB Pritzker s executive orders.
The council also voted to dismiss citations against two local restaurants and bars, Track Inn and Bananas, which had been cited for noncompliance by allowing people to eat inside despite rules against that.
Chillicothe may consider rolling back its enforcement of Gov. JB Pritzker s COVID-19 restrictions on restaurants and bars next month.
The Track Inn and Banana s Beach Bar popped up on the city council s public safety committee agenda Tuesday evening after repeated citations for permitting indoor dining that is banned under the governor s Tier 3 mitigations.
Chillicothe s city code currently considers a violation of the governor s executive orders an ordinance violation.
City Attorney Michael Seghetti said the Track Inn was first cited in November under city code for employees and customers not wearing face coverings, and a lack of social distancing. Banana s was cited for similar reasons in December.
CHILLICOTHE The city of Chillicothe could set a first when it comes to COVID-19 enforcement opting to go from enforcing to non-enforcing.
Where other cities chose from the start not to enforce the governor s orders that shuttered eateries and taverns for inside dining, Chillicothe currently has an ordinance on its books that makes violating Gov. JB Pritzker s executive orders a violation of city code.
But in the wake of a two-hour public safety committee meeting that dealt with alleged noncompliance of COVID restrictions by two business, The Track Inn and Bananas, it appears the city could backtrack from that stance.