Officials extend state of emergency
The Macomb Township Board of Trustees approved a 30-day state of emergency in response to the COVID-19 pandemic on March 27.
The action was taken at a 5 p.m. special meeting held via the audio conferencing platform Zoom, and in compliance with Gov. Gretchen
Whitmer’s
March
23 “Stay
Home,
Stay Safe” executive order. It was called because on March
25, the board attempted to hold a meeting via teleconference that was set to begin at 7 p.m. but was aborted at about 7:15 p.m. due to technical difficulties. Many callers, including some board members, were unable to connect.
“The Supervisor takes full responsibility for this unfortunate incident and intends to take appropriate steps to insure this does not happen again,” Supervisor Janet Dunn wrote in a March 26 letter that was part of the March 27 board packet.
The letter did not indicate the reasons for the March 25 technical difficulty.
During the March 27 meeting, Dunn requested to declare a 30-day state of emergency in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Trustee Nancy Nevers made the motion to declare the 30-day state of emergency, which was seconded by Trustee Charles Oliver. All members were present via the audio conferencing platform and approved the motion unanimously.
On March 27 via an email to the Macomb Daily, Dunn said that the reason for requesting the extension of the state of emergency was “because every day there are more cases than the day before.”
“Per Bob Phillips, Macomb Township Fire Chief and Emergency Manager, the peak has not been reached, so there is still a long way to go,” Dunn said via e-mail.
She had previously signed a state of emergency declaration on March 18, which is posted on the township’s website. In the March 18 state of emergency declaration, Dunn wrote that in the coming days the township expected additional facility closures, more limited public gatherings and employee absences to attend to illness or family matters as well as continued supply shortages.
“In order to effectively marshal the resources of Macomb Township government to respond to this unprecedented situation I, as Supervisor of Macomb Township, in accordance with Section 10 of Public Act 390 of 1976, as amended, do hereby declare that a ‘state of emergency’ exists within our township, that the response and recovery elements of our emergency operations plan have been activated, and that township resources are being utilized to the fullest extent possible,” Dunn wrote on March 18.
Fire Chief Robert Phillips said via e-mail that the March 18 declaration concluded on March 25.
“The Supervisor declared a state of emergency this morning to ensure the township is covered. It will be in effect for seven days,” Phillips said via e-mail on March 27.
Phillips also said via email he recommended the 30-day extension of the March 27 declaration, and that it is consistent with what the county commissioners recently approved. Phillips also said via email he anticipates recommending an extension beyond this 30 days as well.
“I am recommending the extension to ensure the township has the resources needed and available from the county, state and federal government as we work our way through this pandemic,” Phillips said via e-mail “The township does not have the ability to get through this on its own. Our resources are already strained and will only become more so as we deal with whatever the future may bring. Also, when this is done, the township may be eligible to receive reimbursement for the expenses incurred as a direct result of this pandemic and the only method available to be eligible to receive the funds is if the township is operating under a state of emergency.”
Via e-mail on March 27, Dunn said a state of emergency means residents should stay home, avoid gatherings, be aware of any of COVID-19 symptoms, wash hands frequently, and follow all of the other recommendations from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. Dunn also said she was prepared to extend the state of emergency as long as may be needed.
During the public comments portion of the March 27 meeting, township resident Matthew Sahr spoke in favor of the state of emergency declaration. Sahr is Michigan Professional Fire Fighters Union Sixth District vice-president and a field service representative for the International Association of Firefighters. Jeff Craig, a township member of the fire department and the union president for all paid-on-call and auxiliary firefighters, also spoke.
“I just want to make sure that the township board is aware, that we don’t want to run out of equipment. We got dangerously low when this virus really started kicking up. Full support of the emergency declaration also. We want to make sure the supplies keep coming in,” Craig said.
Craig said firefighters do not want to run out of any personal protection equipment such as masks, gowns, sanitizers, eye protection, or any other equipment necessary to fight COVID-19.
“We don’t want that exposure to be passed on to us because of lack of equipment,” Craig said. “The emergency declaration in our opinion would ensure prompt delivery from federal, state and county resources.”
Trustee Timothy Bussineau told firefighters and first responders the township would “move mountains” to protect them, adding the township has the budget, the will of the residents and support of local, county, state and federal elected officials to get it done.
Bussineau made a motion to add to the March 27 agenda the item of discussion and vote of a plan to implement the creation of the permanent township ethics board. The motion was seconded by Trustee Nancy Nevers. The motion failed in a 5-2 vote. Attorney Gregory Meihn served as temporary legal counsel for the board. He recommended the ethics board issue should be done in a meeting where it would be the sole focus.
“We do want to stay within the governor’s process of only addressing those things that are emergency or essential,” Meihn said, adding the March 27 meeting was primarily designed to discuss the declaration of emergency status.
Meihn said he would look into the ethics ordinance and the process by which ethics board members could be selected.