BROOKINGS – The Brookings City Council on Monday approved Resolution 20-038, which allows businesses previously closed or restricted due to coronavirus precautions to operate under new regulations. Owners can re-open today, if they want.

The council also heard a first reading of Ordinance 20-007, which puts the same measures into an ordinance form. The second reading will be May 12. If approved by the council, it will be in effect for 60 days.

Both Resolution 20-038 and Ordinance 20-007 amend aspects of Emergency Ordinance 20-005, which was written in a way that allows amendment by resolution. Ordinance 20-005 closed some businesses and prohibited gatherings in an attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19. The council passed the emergency ordinance on March 23 and extended it April 14. It was set to expire Wednesday. 

Resolution 20-038

Resolution 20-038 is an emergency resolution to modify certain measures set forth in Ordinance 20-005. It takes effect immediately and will be in effect until May 31.

With only 13 cases diagnosed, Brookings County so far has kept COVID-19 spread to a minimum, which was the point of the original emergency ordinance. It allowed health care professionals time to prepare for future surges of COVID-19.

The resolution lays out a long list of rules businesses, such as restaurants, bars, grocery stores, casinos, gyms, recreation and other public gathering businesses, will have to follow in order to re-open, including limiting the number of customers to 10, or 50 percent capacity, whichever is greater, and maintaining 6 feet between customers. 

Restaurants and bars must disinfect or dispose of menus and clean condiment containers for each customer, and groups are limited to 10 people or less. Salad bars and self-service buffets are not permitted.

Retail and grocery store shopping aisles will be marked as one-way, hand sanitizer must be available for public use, and plexiglass or similar dividers must be between customers and cashiers.

Employees must wash hands, wear masks over their mouth and nose and stay home if sick. Customers would be encouraged to stay home if not feeling well. 

Another requirement is cleaning equipment after each use by customers and employees.

Salons and barber shops need to have 6 feet of space between customers, and service is recommended by appointment only.

Theaters and similar businesses need to mark certain seats as “not available due to social distancing guidelines” to ensure compliance.

 The entire list is available as an attachment to the agenda on the city’s website. If any business owners have questions about how the rules apply to their particular business, call city hall at 692-6281.

Violations of the rules may result in a fine, and multiple violations may result in further enforcement procedures, including legal action to close the business for public safety, according to both the resolution and ordinance.

The passing of Resolution 20-038 does not mean businesses have to open up if they are not comfortable doing so, City Manager Paul Briseno said. 

City staff will continue to assess the COVID-19 situation, check with health care professionals and other authorities, and will take action as needed, in accordance with recommendations from professionals, Briseno said.

Public comments

Casey Engen owns a small business in Brookings but was concerned with making sure people continued to be fed. 

“We’ve seen the food pantry take a big hit,” she said. Her church is also being overwhelmed by the need. 

She’s received 10 emails just that day from people in need, some of whom would be considered middle class, just because they’ve been laid off. 

If the shutdown continues, she wanted to know the council’s plan of action to make sure people could still put food on the table.

Briseno encouraged everyone to contact the United Way, which is working with community foundations to take donations to combat food insecurities and other programs.

“I know we have four different programs here in the community, if not more,” Briseno said.

“We have actually reached out to the United Way and we are working with them, but (they) are actually taking quite a hit, too, because so many people are reaching out to them. So, if this continues, I feel like you’re gonna see a wider spread problem,” Engen said. 

Briseno said the city was looking to transition the outside agencies to the United Way, which can ensure “the funding is going to those with the greatest need here in the community.”

Carla Dieter was very concerned about the economy and small business owners. 

Brookings County has had only 13 positive COVID-19 cases with no hospitalizations and no deaths, she said. No cases were active as of Monday. 

“And we shut everything down,” she said.

She wanted a “proportionate response to this virus” and asked the council what their goal was.

“Is it zero coronavirus cases? Because right now, we’re close to that,” Dieter said.

“Our businesses are our life-blood. And this city is not gonna survive closing down,” Dieter said. “We need a major response … so let’s open.”

Niemeyer facing challenges

Shelly Anderson asked if any of the councilors were small business owners. Councilor Open Niemeyer is the owner of Ope Niemeyer Flooring LLC. Anderson asked if his business had been impacted or closed.

His business has been impacted, Niemeyer said. He requires his employees to wear masks “because a lot of the job sites that we’re going to are requiring this,” he said. They have to get their temperatures taken, fill out questionnaires, and safety meetings have “doubled in size,” he added.

“I’m on the side of caution,” he added. He encourages his employees to stay home; one of his men did because he had been exposed to a family member from Sioux Falls. The employee tested negative, “but he had to take that week off,” Niemeyer said.

He wears a mask going into a business or when he’s talking to someone. 

“It’s to protect them. I think everybody should take that responsibility,” Niemeyer said.

“Yes, it has affected me; in more ways than you can imagine, but none of us asked for this,” Niemeyer said. 

“Have you expressed that to the rest of these city council members who don’t understand what it’s like to own a small business?” Anderson asked him, then addressed the council. “I mean, do you guys understand? You guys haven’t been financially impacted.”

“I think everybody has been educated on this,” Niemeyer said, speaking for the council. “We knew making the decision of shutting down the businesses that needed to be shut down, we knew that wasn’t gonna be … a popular thing. But this was to protect our citizens.

“It’s a decision that we had to make,” Niemeyer said.

He knows that this is the only South Dakota city where the salons and barber shops were shut down. Anderson said people are going to other towns.

“I understand that, ma’am, but there are other states that shut the whole state down,” Niemeyer said. He said other salon owners were concerned for their customers and were willing to shut down to protect everyone. 

“I understand why we closed six weeks ago; I get it. … And I think it was the proper thing to do. But it is time for the government to give the rights and decisions back to the people,” Anderson said, asking that non-essential businesses be allowed to open today. She said if the non-essential businesses continue to be closed, it will create more of a mental-health crisis than the virus has.

‘Inconsistencies’

Steve Timmerman said we now have more data and science that we had when the coronavirus hit. He compared it to influenza, which comes through annually.

If you compare the numbers, influenza is “far more deadly and far more serious across the board than what we’re even seeing now,” he claimed.

The idea was to flatten the curve, “and there still isn’t any good science that says we’re doing that,” Timmerman said. “I think we’ve been successful at flattening the curve on our economy.”

He said the resolution has inconsistencies, citing cleaning and wearing masks, which “present a false sense of security.” 

Schools and playgrounds are not addressed, he said. Gathering outside or on private property isn’t addressed. One-way aisles are not working, “so I don’t see the purpose of that.”

“In short, I see more problems that this creates than it helps,” Timmerman said.

He asked the council to let Ordinance 20-005 just expire and “let the public go out.” 

Confusing restrictions

Jael Thorpe said the litany of restrictions was confusing. Brookings has “by far, the most restrictive and far-reaching ordinance of any city in the state,” she said.

She asked why the rules were requirements, and what does enforcement look like?

She feels it’s an opportunity for more conflict and opens the council up for legal battles. 

Council comments

“What we’re trying to do is balance this fear that people have with a very real economic need,” Councilor Leah Brink said. 

“It’s really off-putting to me when I hear people say that, ‘you’re choosing between life and dollars,’ as if it’s that simple. It is not that simple,” Brink said.

“Government is about compromise, and we are needing to work together. By doing something here, it’s better than leaving everything shut,” she said.

“I also do think that we should trust each other,” she said. “As individuals, every single one of you has the right to stay home and to not open your business and not go to places that you think might be dangerous.”

Councilor Nick Wendell thanked those who spoke and the “hundreds” who sent emails, texts and phone calls.

“I think it has helped us understand the impact,” Wendell said.

He said passing Ordinance 20-005 was the most difficult decision he had made as a city councilor. 

“And to be honest, tonight’s decision will be more difficult,” Wendell said.

He noted Brookings has reached “none of the thresholds the Centers for Disease Control defined” to start a phased approach to normalcy. For example, he said there is no plan for widespread testing.

“As of this morning, only 1% of the population of Brookings County has been tested,” Wendell said.

He does recognize “the very real economic devastation” that will be felt for years.

While some have called for opening businesses, he pointed out that will have consequences.

If an employer opens, the employees must return, whether they feel it is safe or not. If an employee does not return, they will most likely not be eligible for unemployment. 

That’s why the mandates of the resolution are important, because they protect the shoppers, but also the workforce, Wendell said.

Niemeyer felt the resolution was important, so the city could “ease back in and make sure we don’t have a turn for the worse.”  

“Not everyone in the city wants us to open up,” Niemeyer said.

He said the resolution “meets in the middle” to protect everyone. 

“We all hate COVID,” Councilor Patty Bacon said. “None of us wanted to pass 005, but we’ve reviewed things and feel that this is the most responsible way to move forward.”

The council wants to give businesses the opportunity, “but no one has to open,” she said. “If you aren’t comfortable, you don’t have to re-open.”

One of Councilor Dan Hansen’s disappointments was “I feel as a community, we’re moving further apart,” he said. “We can’t be civil with each other. … Helping each other out is really lacking, and that’s what we’re gonna need more than anything.”

“All of us are affected” whether we’ve lost a paycheck or not, Hansen said. 

“At the end of the day, we often have to make decisions that aren’t always popular, … but we have to do what’s best for Brookings,” Hansen said.

Councilor Holly Tilton Byrne thanked those who have contacted the council.

“We really rely on that kind of feedback,” she said, especially all the advice from medical experts, epidemiologists, business owners, and vulnerable citizens.

“The main priority is to protect the health and wellbeing of our community, while also opening up our business,” Tilton Byrne said, and hopes they can do that.

Brookings’ numbers are low, “but now is not the time to let up. I don’t want to see our numbers go up,” Mayor Keith Corbett said.

Cities that were proactive have low numbers. 

“So that’s why we’re doing it,” Corbett said.

He said we need to keep moving forward on issues like feeding people.

“This is our town,” Corbett said.

Briseno comments

Briseno said the council tried to balance the economic and public health with the resolution.

The federal government has deemed what is essential and what’s non-essential, he said. 

The council keeps an eye on thresholds, such as hospitalizations, spikes, case numbers and other statistics, which are provided by the medical community, and weigh all those in their decisions.

As for enforcement, Briseno likened it to enforcing fireworks laws; difficult to enforce, but they do enforce those regulations.

People asked about opening up playground equipment, sports and other activities. The National Parks Association is guiding parks departments across the nation to keep playgrounds closed, Briseno said. Other cities are considering opening up playground equipment, and Brookings will consider it, as well. 

Brookings is also considering opening up recreational and summer activities, aiming for early to late June. Officials here are consulting with summer sports organizers, as well.

Contact Jodelle Greiner at jgreiner@brookingsregister.com.