BROOKINGS – The Brookings City Council voted 6-1 on an amendment Tuesday to keep an ordinance in place requiring businesses to follow rules to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Councilor Leah Brink was the dissenting vote.

With the council approving a major change to the proposed ordinance, City Manager Paul Briseno said the council will have to set a special meeting July 7 for a second reading of the new wording. The meeting must take place before the current ordinance expires Monday, July 13.  

Ordinance 20-007 was put in place with requirements for businesses to follow to reduce the spread of COVID-19. 

The council came into the meeting Tuesday to consider a second reading of Ordinance 20-010, which changed those requirements into guidelines, as suggested by Brink during the council meeting on June 9.

Councilor Nick Wendell proposed an amendment for “Ordinance 20-010 to revert to the original language in 20-007, which would keep the original restrictions in place, and change the language that was amended at our last meeting back to the original language of 20-007.”

Councilor Patty Bacon seconded it. 

One person spoke out against the council having any restrictions; several spoke in support of keeping the restrictions.

Background

The current emergency COVID-19 regulation through Ordinance 20-007 has the following implications: 

Restaurants/bars 

• Maximum of 10 customers or 50% occupancy, whichever is greater 

• Groups of 10 or less and 6 feet apart

• Cleaning of high-touch areas/materials between users 

• Screening employees recommended

• Employees required to wear masks

• Cleaning of used spaces before and after each customer 

• No self-serve buffets or salad bars

• No sharing of condiments unless wiped between use 

Grocery, casinos, gym and recreational facilities 

• Cleaning of equipment after use by customer and/or employee 

•Maximum of 10 customers or 50% occupancy

• Employees of grocery stores will wear masks 

• Protective measures/operations will be provided 

Salons/barber shops 

• Customers 6 feet spacing and recommend service by appointment-only 

• Employees will wear masks

• Clean equipment before and after each customer 

• Adequate social distancing for waiting customers

Administrative exemptions allow for requested flexibility.

Against any restrictions

Bradley Walker said Ordinance 20-007 should be allowed to expire and that Ordinance 20-010 making the rules guidelines “was really unnecessary.”

“This amendment now, to just extend the current ordinance, I believe would be detrimental to the economy here, as it’s already suffered enough,” Walker said. The reason the ordinance should be removed is “these businesses can’t afford to be operating at 50%.”

He said it wasn’t fair “to penalize the businesses. You’re not putting the same stipulations on the general public as you are the businesses.”

He cited the Justice for Black Lives march on June 5, when there were only 20 cases of COVID-19 in Brookings County. The latest count is 62. 

“In the three and a half weeks since the march, we’ve had 40 cases occur,” Walker said. 

“If you’re letting people do what they wish, but having to regulate businesses … that does not seem fair to me,” Walker said. 

He said the council should include stipulations for public gatherings or remove all the restrictions.

“I think that we’ve done enough damage to our community so far by these ordinances and restrictions that it’s time to let it go,” Walker said.

He criticized the council because so many events – Brookings Summer Arts Festival, Uncle Sam Jam, Downtown at Sundown – have been canceled, yet the council approved an alcohol application for the Brookings Volunteer Fire Association Street Dance on July 25. Walker approved of the Firemen’s Dance going forward, but not canceling the other events. He also said the council would not restrict football games at South Dakota State University “because of all the income that the city gets from the revenue of the ticket sales, concessions, pillow tax, hotel rooms.” 

“I would say that it’s time to end all these ordinances; let people make their own decisions,” Walker said.

Bacon clarified that neither the city nor the council canceled any of the events Walker mentioned. 

“Those were done by the organizers of those events. The city did not cancel any,” she said.

“I understand; I’ve heard that many times,” Walker said. He said Downtown at Sundown should be allowed to go forward because less people attend that than the Firemen’s Dance. 

He claimed the council had ongoing discussions with the organizers to cancel.

“I’m speculating,” Walker said.

“You are,” Bacon replied. 

Worst could be coming

“I think that the public needs to be held to a higher standard,” Dr. Rick Hieb said. No one’s trying to punish the businesses, but “we do know there’s places where (COVID) spread in close contact is a real problem.”

COVID numbers are up nationally and “we’re always about three weeks behind everything,” Hieb said, adding predictions had this area reaching a peak this month.

“I thought we were gonna dodge that, but it doesn’t look like it. We do know that the majority of people that we are seeing now with COVID are young people; and that’s national, too – (ages) 20-40,” Hieb said.

“Those of us in the health care business are just kind of bracing ourselves right now,” Hieb said, adding they are very concerned about what will happen when college resumes in a few weeks.

“I don’t want businesses to suffer. I don’t want that, but the worst thing that could happen is that this thing comes in like a tidal wave and then everything gets shut down. That’s a total economic disaster,” Hieb said.

He said the best thing was to keep the restrictions in place, adding 16 states have increased restrictions, including requiring masks in public.

Hieb has heard people say the restrictions violate Constitutional rights.

“We’re not. This is just a public health issue,” Hieb said.

‘You must do more’

Josh Westwick was opposed to relaxing the restrictions and supported Wendell’s amendment.

He thanked the council for making difficult decisions over the past few months – “I applaud you for your dedication and commitment to our community,” Westwick said.

Tuesday’s decision will impact not only the residents of Brookings, but the thousands of students coming back to SDSU, he said.

“Your decision tonight will define our community values and must be made in the best interest of all your constituents,” Westwick said.

The proposed relaxing of the restrictions “would place our community at risk,” Westwick said. He said he supported businesses reopening safely, but with COVID cases in the county increasing, he warned the council of the “negative consequences” of relaxing restrictions.

He used as an example the fact that the council has asked on three separate occasions that people wear masks to council meetings, yet “citizens attending your meetings have chosen not to do so,” Westwick said. 

“Without a policy in place … individuals are not inclined to take action or comply. With this in mind, it is in the city’s best interest to leave the current ordinance in place to protect community health,” Westwick said.

He said some will argue that other cities have lifted all restrictions and Brookings should do the same.

“I’ll remind you of something that many of you on this council have cited in the past: Brookings is someplace special. We are not like other communities in the state. Distinguishing ourselves and standing apart from other cities is not something we have ever shied away from. In fact, it’s one of the greatest strengths of this community,” Westwick said.

He cited Brookings’ score of 100 on the Municipal Equality Index as an example.

“Our community should not hesitate to be an exception to the norm by making difficult choices to protect the safety of our families, our neighbors and all members of this community,” Westwick said about COVID-19 decisions.

He thanked those on the council who have spoken up publicly about the importance of social distancing, hand washing and mask-wearing, and asked those that haven’t to “increase your public advocacy immediately.”

As leaders of this community, the residents are looking to the council for guidance, he said. As part of that, he asked that the council have city staff “enhance the promotion and advocacy of COVID safety measures significantly, using whatever means possible,” including press releases, letters to the editor, the city webpage, social media, and television.

“You must do more,” Westwick stressed.

“COVID-19 is real. It remains a threat to the health and well-being of our community members, and it demands your attention and it demands aggressive action,” Westwick said.

Other views

Dennis Hedge, provost at SDSU, said the university is looking forward to the upcoming academic year and making preparations to ensure the safe return and health of students and staff, including the JacksRBack Task Force, in accordance with advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and South Dakota state agencies. 

That requires “critical” changes for staff, classes and schedules, “and some of the changes will indeed be quite significant,” Hedge said. 

These changes are being informed by the expertise of professionals such as epidemiologist Bonny Specker and the latest scientific studies. 

The university, city and community must work together to achieve the success everyone desires, Hedge said.

The best way to do that, he said, was to leave the current ordinance, with its restrictions, in place.

Al Heuton, director of Brookings Economic Development Corporation, said he was not there to take an official stand on the ordinance, but was concerned about businesses.

His biggest concern was a COVID “flare-up in Brookings and how long is that gonna shut things down and to what extent?”

He urged the council to spread the word about the need to wear masks when in public.

“There are things that this community can do that doesn’t shut businesses down that will help stop the spread,” Heuton said, adding that BEDC will do what it can to get the message out.

“It’s gonna take the will of the people to really change the potential outcome,” he said. “I think it’s extremely important that we keep pushing out to the community that individuals need to take action. They need to do what they can to make sure that they’re not spreading the virus.”

Bill Alsaker said he supported Wendell’s amendment and he asked if the council had a plan to encourage good behavior, improve the testing and tracing situation, and what they’ll do if there is a flare-up.

“We do have a pandemic plan in place,” Mayor Keith Corbett said, adding he has spoken to SDSU President Barry Dunn about how the city and university can work together, as well as other organizations in town. “We need to all get that word out.”

Shelly Anderson said she’d spoken with employees who said their doctors don’t want them wearing a mask “because of their health issues.” 

Corbett called on Hieb to answer.

“There’s really very few reasons that a person shouldn’t wear a mask. And the general consensus is if you’re well enough to be out in public or well enough to work, you should be well enough to wear a mask,” Hieb said.

“I would say, get a note from the doctor, if you need an exception and it’s that important,” he added.

Councilor comments

Councilor Holly Tilton Byrne offered a friendly amendment to clarify that bartenders and restaurant servers should wear masks. She offered the clarification because there seems to be some question about the language in the ordinance. 

City Attorney Steve Britzman said it was fine to clarify it that way, and Wendell and Bacon had no objection to the change.

The council voted on Wendell’s amendment, which passed 6-1.

The future

Wendell wants to have a conversation regarding the enforcement of the ordinance and the required restrictions and education efforts that were mentioned.

Wendell said there have been “good actors” who have followed the rules, but others haven’t and the city has struggled to enforce it. 

“So if we’re going to extend the ordinance, which the council has supported this evening, I’d like us to have a conversation about what enforcement truly looks like,” Wendell said. “It’s only going to be as strong as our enforcement capabilities.” 

Councilor Dan Hansen said he agreed with Wendell, adding it’s hard for folks to picture how far particles travel when a person sneezes, which can be as much as 20 feet. 

“It’s time to stop talking and start taking action,” Hansen said.

Brink said it was time to have conversations about the future because COVID could stay, have another wave, or other pandemics could come up. 

“We have to have some kind of a plan for what we do when the next time a threat like this arises,” she said. 

Call if you see problems

Briseno said people should contact the city if they see problems or violations. 

“We have a beautiful, wonderful app called Engage Brookings,” he said, which can be downloaded on a smart phone. “We will respond immediately to these businesses.”

Contact Jodelle Greiner at jgreiner@brookingsregister.com.