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Previously:

• With Del Norte COVID Cases on the Rise, Crescent City Council Retreats Back to Zoom Meetings

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Though coronavirus cases have increased in Del Norte County, city and county elected officials were reluctant to reinstate teleconferencing as a means of continuing to do business amid the pandemic.

Crescent City Councilors on Monday voted 4-1 on a resolution to continue meeting via Zoom, but plan to re-evaluate the situation at its Feb. 7 meeting. Councilor Beau Smith dissented, saying that he didn’t want the city to be the “only ones meeting virtually.”

The Del Norte County Board of Supervisors also discussed the possibility of meeting via Zoom instead of in-person, but didn’t approve an official resolution Tuesday, choosing instead to “play it by ear.” District 5 Supervisor Bob Berkowitz was absent.

“We can have a meeting that is virtual without doing a resolution,” Board Chair Gerry Hemmingsen said, adding that he wanted to have the discussion not necessarily vote on a resolution. “And then after that meeting at some point within 30 days we have to have a finding of, ‘This is why we had that meeting because we had an emergency of something.’”

The city and county discussions came after the Del Norte Public Health Branch reported Monday that 127 new community cases were confirmed over the weekend, making for 326 active cases in Del Norte County overall.

Five people are hospitalized with COVID-19 symptoms, the Public Health Branch reported. According to Crescent City Manager Eric Wier, who spoke with Public Health Officer Dr. Aaron Stutz, three people are in the hospital’s intensive care unit.

“In my conversations (with Dr. Stutz), he does expect cases to continue as we go through this surge for at least the next several weeks,” Wier said. “We’re seeing cases on a national level starting to decline and we’ve always sort of lagged behind that.”

Wier said Stutz told him he expects Sutter Coast Hospital to have the capacity to deal with the latest COVID-19 surge, brought on by the omicron variant. However, because the hospital is also treating patients who present with other illnesses, it is busy, Wier said.

According to Wier, who received his information from Stutz, Curry General Hospital, which is smaller than Sutter Coast, is nearing capacity “when it comes to everything.”

Three City Councilors adopted a resolution to meet via teleconferencing under California Assembly Bill 361 at a special meeting Jan. 7. Smith and Mayor Jason Greenough were absent from that discussion.

AB 361 allows local governing agencies to meet remotely during a proclaimed state of emergency and if state or local officials have recommended or imposed social distancing measures.

On Monday, Smith called for a special meeting to consider adopting another version of the Council’s original resolution to continue remote meetings.

Greenough, though he voted in favor of continuing remote meetings, said he wanted to hear from Stutz “before we make some kind of a decision like this.”

“We all want to get back to normal,” Greenough said. “I understand the reasoning for this being on here, and to make sure we have as many Council members in attendance as possible to do the business of the city. But I kind of lean toward Councilmember Smith’s opinion to have a special meeting if we need to, and it would be really nice to have Dr. Stutz at that meeting.”

Councilor Raymond Altman said he didn’t want to hold a special meeting to vote on whether or not he and his colleagues should continue to meet via teleconferencing. Altman also pointed out that when the Council was meeting in person, items had to be postponed because at least one member was absent.

“I haven’t missed one meeting,” Altman said. “You guys have missed meetings and now you want to have a meeting about a meeting. Just make up your mind. Do you want to have a meeting about having a meeting or do you want to just have a meeting?”

Crescent City Mayor Pro Tem Isaiah Wright, a teacher with Del Norte Unified School District, pointed out that because of the current COVID situation, it may be difficult for him to attend in-person meetings.

“There’s classrooms all over the school district getting closed down right now,” he said. “There’s two at my school. My son is currently in isolation; he’s taking his test tomorrow. For me, it could be hard to get to a couple meetings. I have more than just me and my family that affects what happens with me being able to be at meetings.”

Currently, the Del Norte Solid Waste Management Authority, the Local Agency Formation Commission and the Del Norte Local Transportation Commission meet via Zoom under AB 361, according to Councilor Blake Inscore.

The Crescent City Harbor District on Jan. 4 approved a resolution to participate in meetings via teleconferencing.

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