After Receiving Criticism From Far & Wide, The County 5 Finally Wakes Up, Closes Parks etc.
Posted March 23, 2020 06:15 pm | (1 comment)
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – After the fiasco of the last emergency meeting of the County 5 (County Commission or The 5), The 5 was minding its P's & Q's with the 3 pm emergency meeting scheduled earlier today.
Once the meeting was scheduled, County Manager Ben Scott emailed the local media (1:52 pm) regarding the up-coming emergency meeting.
Mr. Scott also had the meeting posted to the County website, along with the Emergency Order, something which was not done timely for the last Emergency Meeting. See: County Special Coronavirus Emergency Meeting Ignores Health Risks to County 5, Staff, & Public
The Emergency Order
Based on yesterday's acknowledgement of 2 confirmed Columbia County cases of COVID-19, The 5 stated in it's Emergency Order: "The County’s Parks and Recreation Director has previously ordered closure of the County’s parks, recreation areas, and community centers, but those closures have gone unheeded by some members of the public."
The 5 also claimed that "gaming parlors" have not been observing "social distancing."
Parks & Gaming Parlors Shut
The 5 unanimously ordered: "All parks, recreation areas, and community centers located within Columbia County, Florida, are declared to be closed as of the effective date and time of this order. Said parks, recreation areas, and community centers shall remain closed until such time as the COVID-19 pandemic state of emergency ceases to exist or the restriction imposed by this order is lifted by the Board of County Commissioners in writing."
The 5 further ordered: "All gaming parlors located within the jurisdictional boundaries of Columbia County are ordered closed as of the effective date and time of this order. All such businesses shall remain closed until such time as the COVID-19 pandemic state of emergency ceases to exist or the restriction imposed by this order is lifted by the Board of County Commissioners in writing."
Anyone convicted of violating these orders can be charged with a second degree misdemeanor and subjected to a maximum $500 fine.
Epilogue
This reporter does not use Facebook, as do many of our readers. Some folks share Facebook pages. Many individuals have gone off Facebook so as not to be tracked and have their information sold.
One of our readers (name with held to avoid retaliation either from the local government or Facebookers) wrote the following: "The County hasn't learned a damn thing since hurricane Irma. The reliance on Facebook for communication in emergencies is discriminatory, short-sighted and plain lazy."
