Brewster City Council declares state of emergency, allows city to qualify, apply for state and federal resources

BREWSTER – The Brewster City Council convened in special session in city hall on Monday, March 16, to pass a resolution declaring a state of emergency within the city on the first business day after President Donald J. Trump declared a national emergency on Friday, March 13. Both actions were taken as a result of the alarming rise of a contagious respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and the worldwide pandemic it caused the World Health Organization to declare on March 11.
Washington Governor Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency in all Washington counties on Feb. 29 following the nation’s first death from the novel coronavirus in a long-term care facility in King County earlier that day.
The Resolution, No. 2020-4 says in part that its passage “is in the best interest of the public health, safety, and welfare of the citizens of the city.”
“We’re proactive rather than reactive when this stuff gets here,” said Smyth, “and we can take advantage of all the federal and state resources and funds when they become available.”
The President’s emergency declaration frees up federal resources that states can access in their fight against the covid-19 outbreak. Smyth explained that declaring a municipal state of emergency is a necessary step for the city to qualify to apply for state and federal resources.
“There are going to be some economic impacts here,” said Smyth, “that is also kind of an emergency.”
A quorum of three council members comprised of Avis Erickson, Emmanuel Hurtado, and Tim Rieb unanimously approved the emergency resolution.
“The wave is on its way; it’s going to happen,” said Smyth, an EMS first responder. “We need to get ahead of the ball.”
“They are looking at infection rates of 40 to 60 percent and that’s based on numbers between Germany, New York City, Italy and Spain, and of that 40 to 60 percent of the people who are being infected up to 17 percent of those people are being hospitalized,” said Smyth. “If you take the city of Brewster into account with about 2,500 people, you’re looking at about 1,250 people potentially infected and another 200-400 who would need to be hospitalized.”