Headline: Pateros declares state of emergency

PATEROS – City council members voted unanimously to approve a state of emergency resolution at the regular monthly meeting on Monday, March 16, on the heels of federal and state public emergency declarations earlier this year in response to the novel coronavirus outbreak.
Among those declarations is one issued by the U.S. Department of Public Health and Human Services on Jan. 31, in response to the novel coronavirus. In another dated Feb. 29, Governor Jay Inslee proclaimed a state emergency in all Washington state counties and directed implementation of Washington State Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan procedures following the outbreak of COVID-19 cases in the state.
The Pateros resolution is similar to the last one it passed in the aftermath of the 2014 Carlton Complex wildfire that destroyed a third of city residences and was at the time the largest wildfire in state history.
The resolution said in part that that it “shall remain in effect until such time as the Mayor determines the virus no longer presents an immediate threat to the public health, safety, and welfare of the citizens of the city.” It also makes the city eligible for federal and state disaster funds and resources and authorizes the mayor and city staff “to request all available state and federal financial and other assistance necessary to respond to the emergency that is the subject of this Resolution.”