Council Operations
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Staff continues to work at home and in-office during regular business hours due to
COVID-19 capacity limits by the state. We’re still here to serve
you! Work with staff directly for assistance and to
schedule in-person and/or virtual meetings.
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Service Centers will accept
in-person visitors by appointment only effective Monday, April 5.
Please contact the staff member and/or department to make
arrangements. Visitors must wear a mask and complete a
self-assessment questionnaire before their appointment.
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Stores will reopen effective
Tuesday, April 6, with a maximum capacity of four customers in the
store at a time. Customers must wear a mask and sign a visitor log
upon entry.
- Cicero: Tuesdays-Thursdays from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. and first Saturday of the month from 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
- Horseheads: Tuesdays-Thursdays from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. and 2-6
p.m. (closed 1-2 p.m.) and first Saturday of the month from 9
a.m.-1 p.m.
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Property Reservations are being
accepted for some rentable spaces for day use/troop meeting use
only. Effective Thursday, April 1, we will increase indoor capacity
in our rentable spaces to 25% space capacity or a maximum of 25
people, whichever is smaller. Outdoor spaces are up to 50 people
maximum as long as space allows for proper social distancing.
Visit Doubleknot and select Property
Reservation.
At this time, our rentable spaces remain unavailable for non-family group overnight reservations. This status may change as more information on our permitting comes from NYS Department of Health. We will update as soon as we have further information to share.
- Service Unit Encampments booked on-site at council properties are canceled for the calendar year, per our March 1 update, due to the complexity of permitting and state/county health department regulations. Any payments made have been refunded. We know members look forward to these events, so we plan to host council-run events to replace them if permitting allows by summer. We will take care of the planning, provide certified and enthusiastic staff to run activities, provide food and supplies, and ensure groups are following our stringent permitting. We’d rather put this burden on our staff rather than on our volunteers.
Updated Interim Guidance for In-Person Troop Meetings & Activities
The latest edition is dated April 1, 2021.
We anticipate issuing additional guidance at least once a month moving forward. Any updates to council guidelines are subject to change based on the fluidity of local COVID-19 infection rates and/or rollbacks to state/county guidelines.
Of note:
- NY and PA have made changes allowing for larger indoor and outdoor gathering sizes.
- Effective Thursday, April 1, we will increase indoor gatherings to 25% space capacity or a maximum of 25 people, whichever is smaller, and outdoor gatherings of up to 50 people maximum as long as space allows for proper social distancing. All other guidelines must continue to be followed.
- Back and front yard troop meetings will be allowed, following all guidelines.
- Members must still obtain pre-approval from council before planning any gathering of more than 10 people.
- Even when a county/state does not have current
restrictions related to travel, it may still have restrictions
related to the number of people who can gather in a vehicle, number
of households that can be present or other restrictions that apply
to group travel, as opposed to individual/family travel. As such,
prior council approval is still needed for all troop/group trips and
activities to review plans and protocol.
Thank you for your continued understanding and patience. If you have any further questions, please contact us at 1.855.213.8555 or email info@gsnypenn.org .
