Commission may consider their own mask order soon, which would allow them increased flexibility
The Board of County Commissioners may have to address the county wide mask mandate at next Monday’s board meeting.
The board has stayed with the state-wide mask mandate since it went into place on Nov. 25 and has mostly avoided discussing it at weekly board meetings, but the state mandate is set to expire next week, according to county attorney Elizabeth Baskerville Hiltgen.
She told the board this week that she recommended they opt out of the statewide mandate next week and put their own mandate into place.
“Once [Health Department administrator Tiffany Hayman] thinks we’re in a position where we don’t need it, you can rescind your own resolution,” Baskerville Hiltgen said.
Hayman later attended the meeting and told the board that the county has had a total of 476 COVID cases since the pandemic began, and 28 of those cases were active, though “some are dropping off today,” she said during the Tuesday morning meeting. She said hospitalizations were down to two; there were five on Friday.
She said the health department offers free saliva testing for COVID-19, and they have done about 20 of them so far. She said she doesn’t want to compete with the hospitals that are collecting samples to send out to labs for COVID testing.
She said the second dose of the COVID vaccine will be given soon through the Health Department to local healthcare providers who received the first dose through the health department.
She received 60 doses for that plus a few additional doses to give to qualifying healthcare providers who haven’t yet received one. She said she was able to give some vaccines to Twin Valley personnel during the first round, but there weren’t enough to give to everyone there that qualified at that time.
She said she is hoping that Phase 2 for COVID vaccine administering could begin in February. She said there are 150 to 200 people who have asked to be put on a list at the Health Department to be notified when they are eligible to receive a vaccine, and her department has broken that list down into those who are eligible for various phases.
She also reported that all of the SPARK funding has been spent, and none has to be sent back. She will have a final report in February.
Hayman and the board also discussed the health officer position. Hayman said every county is different in terms of who they appoint to that position. She said that position is sometimes held by a medical provider.
“If I have a question, I always call over [to the doctor’s office] anyway,” she said.
Commissioner David Willbrant said he wondered if appointing someone else to the position would relieve some of her workload.
Hayman said appointing a health care provider to the position now would require her to go through an extra step. She said pre-pandemic, the health officer position mostly amounted to fielding the rare complaint about trash or rotten grain.
In other business: • Commissioner David Willbrant said he had a complaint about a large gravel windrow with grass
In other business: and other debris blocking the entrance to a cemetery near Hollenberg. He said he also had a report of a “concerning” bridge north of Washington. Road and Bridge supervisor Justin Novak said the bridge needs to be replaced. He said the bridge has now been closed.
• Novak reported about a vehicle accident involving a county employee and a county vehicle. He also requested a 10-minute executive session to discuss per sonnel performance.
• Justin Dragastin met with the board for the annual review of the county insurance policy. He said there are a lot of work comp claims, which are increasing premiums.
• The board approved the Neighborhood Revitalization tax rebates, which amounted to about $41,000 among 42 parcels for the January distribution.