• Mcalester News-Capital: OPINION: OUR VIEW: Open again

Apr. 17—McAlester City Hall is open again to the public.

We applaud the city for reopening City Hall for those who don't use electronic or no-contact payment methods already available — and putting a plan in place to do it safely.

City Manager Pete Stasiak first planned to reopen it on April 19 but several factors led to City Hall reopening ahead of schedule this week. City Hall reopened Wednesday and is set to be open 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

A payment kiosk was installed at City Hall to accept utility bills payments. Stasiak said the kiosk helped expedite the reopening process and should help improve customer service for those who wish to make a physical payment without a long wait.

Anyone entering City Hall must clear a temperature check before advancing.

We appreciate city officials making public health and safety a priority as we all inch closer to normalcy with COVID-19 cases declining and vaccination numbers rising.

We understand the frustrations of city customers who prefer making in-person payments for various reasons. We hope those customers were able to get more familiar with the multiple payment methods the city offers and are able to stay current on payments.

Some have not been so fortunate.

Stasiak told us some customers fell behind on bills and utility payments — and the city has about 1,200 water accounts.

"We have a monumental effort going on at City Hall," he said.

The city suspended cutoff notices due to the COVID-19 pandemic and has since reinstated the notices.

Stasiak said those with unpaid bills will be offered contracts to pay their overdue accounts off over a 12-month period.

In-person payments will no longer be accepted — but payments can be made at the kiosk at City Hall or the other kiosks across the city, plus online or by phone — in addition to other options.

Stasiak mentioned options, such as paying through the kiosks. Other utility bill payment options previously mentioned include paying online at https://www.cityofmcalester.com/ or by phoning 918-423-9300, extension 4961.

We thank city officials for being cautious throughout the pandemic and making public safety a priority.

It has been difficult for those who don't use electronic payment methods during the pandemic and reopening City Hall was necessary to help those customers.

Now we hope those customers can catch up on the bills and transition to the convenience of electronic payment methods.

McAlester News-Capital Editorial Board