The Porter County
Board of Commissioners met yesterday to amend its original emergency
declaration regarding COVID-19 and assured that they are working on a plan
to reopen County government safely.
The Porter County
Government emergency declaration was amended to reflect Governor Eric
Holcomb’s extension of Indiana’s stay-at-home order that was announced last
week, according to County Attorney Scott McClure. The extension will bring
the stay-at-home order and the closure of nonessential businesses out until
May 1.
The Commissioners
meeting was held via Zoom and streamed live on the Porter County Government
Facebook page. Commissioner Jim Biggs (R-North) was absent. Commissioners
Jeff Good (R-Center) and Laura Blaney (D-South) both voted to approve the
amended emergency declaration. Both then made assurances that they are
planning for a safe reopening of Porter County Government.
“We have been
working and talking and planning for the reopening of County government. We
do not know when that is gonna be yet because we need to make sure that we
have all the protocols in place prior to doing that,” Good said.
Good said the
Commissioners hope to have an announcement for the community and County
employees soon about how reopening will take place. “It is a very hot topic
of discussion here in Porter County Government,” he added.
“We are planning,
we are talking, and I think when we do release what we’re going to do, I
think everyone will see that a lot of time and effort and thought have been
put into this,” Good said.
“We are keeping
everyone’s safety in mind, and all of our decisions are going to be data
driven,” Blaney said. Both encouraged residents to stay safe and continue
following social distancing guidelines.
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