The Polson City Commission voted unanimously in a special meeting March 24 to declare a state of emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Interim City Manager Wade Nash, the declaration allows the city to receive any federal funding that becomes available to reimburse the city for costs related to COVID-19.

Nash, who is also the city’s police chief, told the commission that last week four of his officers were placed into self-quarantine due to potential exposure to coronavirus.

“Those are the types of things you don’t want to happen,” he said. “Luckily, everything came back negative. If indeed they had tested positive, that would cause severe heartache and some challenges covering public safety within Polson.”

“We’re keeping track of additional costs pertaining to this incident,” he said, adding that the state of emergency would allow the city to be reimbursed if federal funding is available.

Nash told the commission that the state of emergency also allows the city to act quickly on certain matters related to COVID-19.

“This thing is changing so dynamically and quickly,” he said. “Currently, we’ve restricted access to the city buildings and have guidelines in place for employees. But it seems like it’s changing so fast and progressing so fast that this allows us to make decisions as it happens. That’s a huge benefit for us.”

He noted that local businesses have been complying with Gov. Steve Bullock’s directive to close restaurants and bars.

“I thought there would be some push back and there absolutely has not been any,” he said.

“I feel as a city we’ve done a great job working together implementing and communicating what we feel is safe for our city employees as well as our community,” he added.