Anticipating the continued spread of the so-called swine flu, the city of Arroyo Grande has adopted an H1N1 Pandemic and Influenza Disease Plan designed to keep employees healthy and deal with a potentially depleted workforce.

"Community activities in response to a pandemic will be largely directed by the County Health Department," City Manager Steve Adams said in a recent report to the City Council.

"The major challenge the city is likely to face is how to maintain basic service delivery if staffing was severely impacted," Adams said. "The goal is to have measures approved and in place that can be quickly activated if necessary."

Dealing with a reduction in the workforce due to illness will be difficult, Adams noted, because the city has already reduced staffing to deal with budget shortfalls over the past two years.

"Unavoidable negative outcomes of the plan include operational tasks that will need to be delayed," Adams said.

As a result, keeping employees healthy is a prime goal.

Under the plan approved by the council, city employees and their families are being encouraged to be vaccinated for both seasonal and swine flu.

Sanitation supplies have been distributed to all departments, and city officials are promoting proper hygiene to prevent the spread of the disease.

Employees' health will be monitored to ensure they receive proper care, and employees who show symptoms of the virus will be sent home.

Those whose illness is confirmed as H1N1 will be required to remain home until 24 hours after the fever has subsided.

When feasible, employees will be allowed to work from home if they need to care for ill family members or during the initial or final stages of the disease if they feel well enough to work.

The plan also lays out a course of action based on departments suffering a 25-percent reduction in the workforce at any given time.

Staff will be cross-trained to pick up others' duties and the city hopes to cooperate with neighboring jurisdictions to accomplish required tasks.

Existing workloads and duties are being prioritized, and those that can be delayed have been identified if all services can't be maintained.

Under the plan, the city will not use contract resources except in critical situations because of the tight budget.

Adams said all the city's departments were involved in preparing the plan, and a draft was distributed to union representatives for review and comment before it was presented to the council for approval.