by Sarah ThomackSt. Joseph PostSt. Joseph bars and taverns will be allowed to reopen, starting Thursday, with social distancing and safety regulations in place.During a city council work session on Wednesday via Zoom, City Attorney Bryan Carter said the regulations are similar to those for restaurants but with a few requirements unique to bars.“They do have to assign parties to tables or to marked standing areas, unlike a restaurant, a bar doesn’t always have tables for everyone to sit at but they will be able to create a - I’ll call it a virtual table - by marking off a standing room area and assigning parties to those areas,” Carter says. “They would also limit bar stool seating to one stool every six feet.”Councilmember Kent O'Dell says St. Joseph could set standards for other cities.“We’re having faith in all of our business owners and our own citizens to abide by the rules and let’s see if we can’t show the rest of everybody else what can be done with social distancing,” O’Dell says.The council will meet again next week to get an update on how things are going and discuss potential test results from a <a href="https://stjosephpost.com/posts/5ebc2adaeb7f17053604dfb0">drive-thru testing event</a> to be held over the weekend.The city council will meet again for a work session at 4 p.m. on May 21st.To view the guidelines, <a href="https://www.stjoemo.info/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=1012">click here</a>.

St. Joseph bars and taverns allowed to reopen starting Thursday