Nez Perce County makes plans to deal with coronavirus

Nez Perce County will offer its employees paid leave if they need to stay home during closures from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The county’s elected officials met Monday morning to discuss issues like staffing levels, with the goal of maintaining basic functions and services even if many employees need to stay home because of closures of schools and day cares in the region.

“We have a lot of parents working in the county and in the city that are going to have to take time off to watch their children,” County Commission Chairman Don Beck said. “In that interim, we’ve got to make some strategic planning so we keep the buildings open, the courthouse especially.”

Commissioner Douglas Havens suggested the county could start with one week of paid leave, and add more as needed so employees wouldn’t have to use up their sick leave and vacation time during the crisis.

Havens said the county would follow the recommendations of Idaho Public Health officials, calling them the lead agency during the response to the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. He sent an email to Public Health North Central Idaho District Director Carol Moehrle over the weekend asking her to communicate directly with the commissioners since they placed Emergency Management Director Grant DiCianni on paid administrative leave Friday afternoon.

Commissioners didn’t respond to requests for comment at the time, and declined to discuss their reasons for the move at Monday’s meeting, citing personnel privacy restrictions. Beck did say the decision could not wait until later.

In the interim, the commissioners appointed county Geographic Information Systems Manager Bill Reynolds to absorb DiCianni’s duties. Havens said that as the chairman of the county’s Emergency Communications Commission, Reynolds is qualified for the job. Beck said the county might assess its need for an emergency manager in the future.

County Assessor Dan Anderson said the vehicle license office at the county courthouse would reopen Wednesday on a restricted basis, processing only transactions like new titles or lost titles because they require a signature. The office was closed Monday and today for staff training on new software.

The Main Street door to the office will be closed so eligible customers will have to enter through the door on the southwest corner. That will allow courthouse security to admit only those who need to do their business in-person. Vehicle registration renewals will not be allowed because they can be completed via the return mail envelope sent with all vehicle renewal notifications; through the Idaho Transportation Department’s secure online system; or by depositing the renewal in the drop box on the west side of the courthouse, Anderson said.

Those with questions about the restrictions may contact the vehicle licensing office at (208) 799-3026. Anderson also expressed concern for the approaching April 15 deadline for property owners to apply for the circuit breaker tax exemption for low-income individuals. He said he would reach out to the governor’s office and the state tax commission about extending the deadline since those property owners tend to be the elderly and infirm people who could be most harmed by the virus.

“They’re probably the most vulnerable people that we’re worried about,” Anderson said. “They should be home and we should delay this.”

County Auditor/Recorder Patty O. Weeks’ office will remain open, although she asked members of the public to call in at (208) 799-3010 to see if her staff can offer assistance over the phone rather than risk spread of the infection via person-to-person interactions.

Weeks also said the county will not be able to switch to vote-by-mail for the May 19 primary election and have to maintain its regular in-person polling places, although voters may request an absentee ballot to be sent via mail. She said poll workers were already trained to sanitize voting equipment for the March 10 presidential primary, and would continue to use those practices.

The county officials also said they would consider instituting travel restrictions. Some department heads have already taken it upon themselves to limit travel. Juvenile Corrections Director Shawn McDowell said he already canceled one regional meeting that was scheduled for next month, and may not go to Boise for another upcoming meeting.

Several city of Lewiston officials attended the meeting, including City Manager Alan Nygaard, Mayor Mike Collins and councilors John Bradbury and John Pernsteiner. Bradbury asked the county to contact Clearwater Paper over his concerns about infection spreading among its hundreds of workers.

After the meeting, Collins and Pernsteiner worried that the lack of a full-time emergency manager in the county might hamper efforts to apply for federal emergency funding.

City officials will meet at 10 a.m. today at City Hall, 1134 F St., to declare a state of emergency and discuss how to mitigate the economic impacts of the pandemic, especially on local small businesses.

Mills may be contacted at jmills@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2266.