MORGANTOWN — Morgantown Police Chief Ed Preston said the residents of Morgantown have been largely compliant with Governor Jim Justice’s stay-at-home-order, which he identifies as a more effective tool than any mandates the city could implement in response to COVID-19.
Preston addressed Morgantown City Council on Tuesday during a committee of the whole meeting conducted via teleconference.
Morgantown passed an emergency ordinance on March 17 that gave the city manager the authority to begin issuing $500 fines to those in violation of COVID-19 prevention measures, like gathering in groups of more than 10 people.
The state declaration comes with stiffer fines and the possibility of jail time, Preston said.
“Under the governor’s order, we can use obstruction charges or unlawful assembly charges if we need to,” Preston said. “So far, we haven’t had to because people have been following our directives.”
He went on to say that businesses and residents have been extremely cooperative when contacted by the police. He cautioned, however, that being too heavy handed could reverse that behavior.
“Writing tickets and making arrests isn’t the way to handle this right now,” Preston said, explaining that enforcement should be measured, particularly in the early stages of what could be a lengthy process.
“We’re on a balancing beam here. It’s what we need for public safety, and a question of just because we can, should we. I’m going to say, just because we can, doesn’t mean that we should — as long as our citizenry is willing to cooperate and will listen to us.”
According to Preston, police are already seeing a spike in domestic violence calls and calls dealing with people suffering from mental illness.
“Depression is a real factor and it’s going to uptick sharply. We’re already seeing it.”
He said there are a number of exceptions to the stay-home order as well as the order against congregating in groups of more than 10. He said officers were alerted to such a gathering recently that turned out to be a wake. As those gathered were family, the threshold didn’t apply.
Lastly, he said, if someone is having a party or acting in violation of the order, complaining on social media after the fact doesn’t really help.
“Social media is not the way to get information and it’s not the way to report violations. Call 911. Call the police department. If there’s something going on, we’ll handle it,” Preston said.
In other council news, the taking up of a nuisance, or drug house, ordinance will not occur until the COVID-19 emergency has subsided.
Heeding the requests of 10 public speakers who voiced opposition, and several written correspondence, council opted not to move the issue forward for consideration at this time.
“I’d also agree that now is not the time to move this forward. I’d like to continue the dialogue once the emergency state is over,” Councilor Dave Harshbarger said.
Nuisance ordinances attempt to make absentee property owners take responsibility for repeated criminal violations and unwanted behavior in their properties.
Also on Tuesday, council moved forward a zoning map change request from Ronald McDonald House Charities, located at 841 Country Club Drive.
The amendment would reclassify property leased from WVU by Ronald McDonald House — as well as a neighboring property — from either R-1 (single family) and R-3 (multi-family) to B-2 (service business).
Director of Development Services Chris Fletcher said the request comes as the charity plans a “considerable expansion” of its facility in anticipation of the new WVU Medicine Children’s Hospital currently being built.
