By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent
ST. JOSEPH – With the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic looking to be waning, Berrien County officials are preparing for a return to normal and expect to end the state of emergency they declared in March. That could mean an end to virtual public meetings and a return to in-person gatherings starting in July.
Berrien County Commissioners discussed the issue at both the administration committee and county board weekly meetings last week and are expected to pass a resolution formalizing their conclusions at this week’s meeting. At present, meetings continue to be held virtually at 10:30 a.m. Thursdays and are on the county’s YouTube channel.
The state of emergency declared in late March was the latest one declared by the county since the pandemic started in March 2020. This most recent state of emergency expires June 30 and will likely not be renewed at the county level although local entities could call for a state of emergency in their jurisdiction.
The primary purpose of the current state of emergency order was to allow county and local public boards to continue to meet virtually and still be in compliance with the Open Meetings Act. The state had allowed virtual meetings throughout most of the pandemic, but the state legislation approved late last year expired at the end of March.
The issue of how to safely get back to in-person meetings has been one discussed by county commissioners and county staff for the last several meetings. The most recent push to get back to meeting in person has come after state officials announced that many gathering size, social distancing and mask restrictions are in the process of being eased.
County Administrator Brian Dissette and Community Development Director Dan Fette outlined the current situation and their proposal on how the county should move forward over the next month.
Fette reported that the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services gathering size order were set to change June 1 as were Michigan OSHA requirements on wearing masks inside buildings. Both sets of rules will expire June 30 as the state lifts all restrictions if infection trends continue downward.
Relative to gathering size, outdoor gatherings will have no restrictions on size while indoor gatherings are limited to 25 individuals or a number equal to 50 percent of the square footage of the meeting area. For the county commissioner meeting room, that means basically a 25 individual limit and likely a limit on public attendance.
“Do we go back to in person meetings June 1 and allow vaccinated people to remove masks?” he asked. “The concern is we have 12 commissioners and multiple staff going in and out. We can reach reach 25 pretty quickly and then have to exclude members of public. We would still have to broadcast meetings to comply with the Open Meeting Act.”
He said county staff also have concerns about mask requirements and how to check to see if people are vaccinated. On the mask issue, he noted that the county courthouse employees fall under separate rules set down by the county as well as by the courts.
County Board Chairman Mac Elliott acknowledged the different rules for court employees as they are governed by the judicial branch of state government. “I think things will percolate through the next few weeks and everyone will end up doing the same thing,” he said. “That’s my sense.”
Fette and Dissette concluded that the simplest path for the county to take is to keep current restrictions and rules in place for the month of June and then prepare for the lifting of most if not all restrictions on July 1.
“The best solution is to not have to check the vaccination status of members of the public and workers,” Fette said. “Our recommendation is to do nothing to amend our COVID response plan and continue to hold meetings remotely and require people to wear masks. We think that is the best way to avoid conflict and limit workplace liability.”
“We think that four weeks of additional constraints is a reasonable request of employees before we go back to normal July 1,” he added. “We’ve talked to the emergency operations committee too and their consensus was to leave status quo until July 1.”
Commissioners agreed with the staff’s assessment. “I would certainly be in favor of waiting July 1,” Dave Vollrath said. “I want to get back as much as anybody but I don’t want to put that burden on our employees.”
“There’s no point of putting a lot of stress on employees or on our system for four weeks when we know it will be over in four weeks,” commissioner Julie Wuerfel said.
Don Meeks agreed as well, but said he also favors keeping the county’s YouTube channel and streaming meetings to people who can’t get to county board meetings in person. “It has brought something to the commission,” he said. “I don’t think the streaming should stop.”
That statement in favor of continuing to live stream meetings was seconded by resident Tony Benhart who was listening on YouTube. “I agree about going back to in person, but you should continue the Zoom meetings,” he said. “After a period of time if the zoom loses attendance then do away with it. It may take a while for people to feel comfortable to return to meeting in a confined room.”
Dissette said he plans to get the word out to local boards so they won’t be caught unaware by the end of the county’s state of emergency. “Every local body has been able to take advantage of Zoom to comply with the Open Meetings Act,” he said. “My advice is that every week we need to be discussing this and reminding them that the state of emergency will end June 30.”
He noted that he doesn’t want to see local boards having to scramble at the last minute and be able to prepare ahead of time. The advent of virtual meetings during the pandemic has been welcomed and used by numerous boards although some have continued to meet in person throughout the pandemic.
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