Board prepares to lift emergency declaration
The Western News | UPDATED 5 years, 6 months AGO
With life again resembling pre-pandemic days, Lincoln County Commissioner Mark Peck (D-1) wants to revisit an emergency declaration issued in March as the coronavirus spread across the nation.
On May 27, Peck asked to place an item “undeclaring an emergency” on the upcoming board of county commissioners’ meeting agenda. As restrictions related to COVID-19 continue to ease, it’s time to look at lifting the state of emergency locally, he said.
“I think we need to start having that discussion formally,” Peck told his fellow board members. “If something happens, we can always redeclare it.”
Commissioners voted unanimously March 18 to declare a state of emergency. At the time, Gov. Steve Bullock had ordered public schools closed and issued a proclamation of emergency at the state level.
Locally, a declaration of emergency gives county commissioners the ability to raise two mills in response to a crisis. Money raised through this process can only be spent with the unanimous vote of the board of commissioners and any leftover dollars must be set aside for future emergencies.
Commissioner Jerry Bennett (D-2), who made the motion to declare an emergency, stressed at the time that the move was a formality.
In the subsequent months, stores closed, public gatherings were restricted or banned and interstate travel was discouraged. While COVID-19 cases continue to pop up across the country, Montana has seen a decline in new patients since March 26. As a result, Bullock began reopening the state and easing restrictions in recent weeks.
The second phase of the reopening, which allows public gatherings of up to 50 people and ends a self-imposed 14-day quarantine for out-of-state travelers, is slated to begin in June.
Lincoln County saw just seven confirmed cases of COVID-19, but suffered the state’s first casualty to the illness. Peck said county officials now have to consider other types of emergencies than disease.
“We’ve got fire season coming up and we don’t want to have too many emergencies coming at the same time,” he said. “Flood season, too. We still got a pretty heavy snowpack this time of year as well.”