Green light for ‘green phase’: Commissioners vote to move ahead with reopening Centre County
Centre County will move into the “green phase” of the state’s reopening plan Friday, following a unanimous request Tuesday from the board of commissioners.
The county was initially on the list to move into the green phase, which eases most restrictions of the stay-at-home order, but commissioners Michael Pipe and Mark Higgins asked the governor’s office last week to remain in yellow, citing concerns for residents’ safety at the June 2 primary election.
After talking to local officials and the state Department of Health over the weekend, the pair rescinded their request, and Centre County is now set to reopen Friday, as Gov. Tom Wolf’s office originally planned.
During Tuesday’s meeting, commissioners voiced frustration with the state’s decision-making process, and how Wolf responded in a press conference to a question about why Centre County was staying in the yellow phase.
Wolf told reporters that the commissioners “didn’t feel that Centre County was ready to move.” While honoring the request, Wolf said the county did a “phenomenal job” at mitigating the spread of COVID-19 but didn’t feel ready to move forward.
Pipe said he thought Wolf’s reaction on Friday hurt Centre County, saying that Wolf “laughing off” the decision to delay didn’t capture the board’s concerns.
“We were able to have productive dialogue with his staff to let (Wolf) know that if there wasn’t an election, we would have gone to green,” Pipe said. “We were ready for it. Our businesses were ready for it, but the fact that we had a concern about the election was the thing that, personally, held me up on it.”
Commissioner Steve Dershem publicly criticized the initial decision to delay Centre County’s reopening, but during Tuesday’s board meeting, he said there was “nothing nefarious” about last week’s request. The commissioners said they were given less than 90 minutes Friday to deliberate whether to move into the green phase.
“It was not helpful the way it was presented at the state level,” Dershem said. “What was presented and what was discussed were two entirely different things ... but moving forward, we have a business community and a county to get back to on Friday.”
Moving forward, Pipe said he hopes Centre County sees better partnership and communication with the state.
“Since Centre County does not have a county health department, unlike many other counties, I don’t believe that we should be a part of the decision making process of where counties go in terms of what phase or color we’re in,” Pipe said. “I think going forward, we would like a heads up ... we are not situated with that focus in mind with the health and the data. We also do not hold it.”
According to green phase guidelines, all businesses are permitted to reopen, including restaurants, gyms, salons and theaters, but they will be allowed 50% capacity. Businesses that reopened under the yellow phase may increase to 75% capacity.
Social distancing, masking and hand washing is still recommended in the green phase, and large social gatherings and nursing home visits are still restricted.
Following Tuesday’s decision, Chamber of Business and Industry of Centre County President and CEO Vern Squier said in a statement that the business community is looking forward to a safe reopening and “long road of recovery.”
“Together, we are ready to move forward with utmost vigilance to continue to slow the spread of COVID-19 in our community while simultaneously reopening Centre County’s economy together,” Squier said.
This story was originally published May 26, 2020 at 11:24 AM.
