MORGANTOWN — Members of the Monongalia County Commission said removal of the mask mandate for county facilities will be under consideration as the county’s COVID numbers continue to drop.
Commissioner Sean Sikora said the county has dipped below the threshold of 25 average daily positives per 100,000 population — which the commission previously set as the point at which it would reconsider its mask policy.
As of Wednesday morning’s meeting, the last update from the state was from March 5. At that point, Monongalia County had been below 25 for three days.
“We had said we wanted it to be under 25 for a week,” Commissioner Jeff Arnett said, noting the commission’s policy only covers common areas and the commission’s office and meeting areas. Judges and other elected officials can enforce the guidelines they deem necessary within their offices.
According to the CDC, Monongalia County is now yellow, which indicates a “medium” community level.
“I believe we will make a decision next Wednesday,” Commission President Tom Bloom said. “We need to talk to our elected officials and I want to reach out to the state supreme court.”
County-specific information is available at CDC.gov by clicking the “Check your county” link on the main “Find local COVID-19 guidance” banner.
In other county news, the commission will hold a public hearing during next Wednesday’s regular meeting regarding a text amendment to the West Run Zoning Ordinance.
The amendment pertains to duplexes in the R-1 and R-2 districts and duplexes and townhomes in the R-3 and R-4 districts.
Monongalia County Director of Planning Andrew Gast-Bray said the changes are eliminating an oversight in the original zoning document.
“They foresaw duplexes and townhomes but they were framed, because that’s all we had at the time, in terms of rental properties. So the idea of a separate lot for a duplex or townhome was not taken into account in the way the zoning was written,” he said. “So we had to make those changes in order to handle a situation where you own your own lot with a townhome.”
Lastly, Monongalia County Sheriff Perry Palmer distributed information about a combined law enforcement career fair to be held from noon-6 p.m. today (March 10) at the WV Army National Guard facility, located at 90 Army Band Way.
The fair will include representatives from the sheriff’s office, West Virginia State Police, WVU Police, and West Virginia Bureau of Prisons (Hazelton), as well as the Morgantown, Westover, Granville, and Star City police departments.
The sheriff’s office will conduct testing on March 26. The physical agility test will take place at 10 a.m. at the WVU track and the written test will be conducted at 1 p.m. at the sheriff’s office.
Additional information is available at monsheriff.com.
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