WASHINGTON CO. COMMISSIONERS EXTEND LOCAL DISASTER DECLARATION THROUGH END OF MONTH
Washington County Commissioners voted this (Thursday) morning to extend the county’s local disaster declaration through the end of April.
Commissioners unanimously approved the extension of the declaration through April 30th. The declaration follows along with the executive order given Tuesday by Governor Greg Abbott, along with the associated essential service listings and closures.
Commissioner Candice Bullock said she, along with Commissioner Kirk Hanath and Brenham City Councilmembers Keith Herring and Clint Kolby, worked together to draft this declaration as they did with the previous one. She said it was initially intended to put the declaration through with a few new amendments, but after receiving notice of Abbott’s order, it was decided that the county’s declaration would mirror his.
Bullock noted that the county is interpreting Abbott’s order as a stay-at-home order, despite the order not explicitly saying so. She said the county’s declaration includes references to Abbott’s order throughout, in order to reiterate it.
Bullock pointed to Section Nine of the county’s declaration, which states that, while activities such as visiting parks are still allowed, public playgrounds and associated equipment, such as exercise equipment, shall be closed. She said, according to her understanding, the City of Brenham will be putting up signage at the playgrounds in its parks to prevent people from using them.
Bullock also brought attention to Section 13 of the declaration, which says any person who knowingly or intentionally violates the declaration commits an offense punishable by up to a $1,000 fine, 180 days in jail, or both.
You can read the county's full declaration here.
Commissioner Joy Fuchs said local leaders have been getting screamed at to shut everything down, and while this document is not a stay-at-home order, it very directly echoes the wording of Abbott’s order, which effectively is a stay-at-home order. Commissioner Kirk Hanath, participating at the meeting via conference call, said this is the order people have been asking for, so now they need to do their part.
EMS Director Kevin Deramus also gave a brief rundown of the newly established Joint Information Center (JIC) to commissioners. He explained that the single point of contact is designed to provide city and county officials, along with media outlets, a real-time source for COVID-19 information. He stressed this resource is only available to local officials and media, and that the public receives COVID-19 information from Faith Mission’s newly opened call center, which can be reached at 1-800-845-8035.
Commissioners also approved the use of Zoom conferencing software for extending commissioners court meetings to be accessible online, beginning Tuesday.
County Judge John Durrenberger also provided guidance from the state's Attorney General for houses of worship during the COVID-19 crisis. You can read that here.