SNOW HILL – As of Tuesday, the Worcester County Government Center remains open to the public.
Though closures as a result of coronavirus concerns continue to mount, the Worcester County Commissioners on Tuesday agreed to keep county government offices open for now. Several of the commissioners said they didn’t want to hinder the building industry by cutting off access to county departments.
“The sky hasn’t fallen yet,” Commissioner Jim Bunting said. “I don’t think we’re at the point we should close this building.”
At the close of Tuesday’s regularly scheduled meeting, Commissioner Joe Mitrecic, president of the board, asked for input from his peers regarding whether the county offices should be closed to the public. Though Mitrecic suggested exploring a drop box system, Bunting was adamant that the building should remain open. He said he didn’t see how the county could handle building permits, plan reviews and the like if the public couldn’t access the building.
“We have people out there that are in the middle of stuff,” he said, adding that if necessary people’s temperatures could be checked before they entered.
Commissioner Diana Purnell asked if the permitting process could be handled online. Mitrecic explained that wouldn’t work because of the various parties and different offices involved, such as the county’s departments of development review and permitting (DRP) and environmental programs.
“There’s two ways to look at this,” Mitrecic said. “If we do shut down it gives DRP a chance to catch up on all the permits they have backed up in there now. I understand Mr. Bunting’s theory also. Business will go on out in the county. If we close this building down we could in fact hinder it.”
Though Commissioner Bud Church suggested appointment-only access to the building, Bunting said that wouldn’t work for people in the building trade, who worked on a client’s timeframe and had to communicate with many different offices at once. He also expressed his concerns about the financial impact the coronavirus-related closures would have on the county.
“I don’t know what we’re losing per day right now with the casino being closed but we’re losing everywhere,” Bunting said. “There’s a lot of revenue that’s going to be gone from the county.”
Purnell continued to advocate for an appointment system.
“The building industry like all the other industries is going to have to change because of what’s happening,” she said.
Mitrecic said that while he liked the concept he wasn’t sure it would work.
“I’m not sure — this is no disrespect to DRP — I’m not sure they can handle appointments,” he said. “I concur with Mr. Bunting. We can’t shut down if there’s any chance of people out there continuing doing work the way they want to do work.”
Purnell maintained that she considered it a risk.
“Tomorrow or the next day or the day after that this may be taken out of our hands and we have to be compliant with whatever,” Mitrecic said.
Commissioner Chip Bertino said the county could wait and let the situation evolve based on state and federal standards.
Harold Higgins, the county’s chief administrative officer, said Somerset and Wicomico counties had closed some of their offices. Emergency Services Director Billy Birch said he’d been in communication with them and that they were using drop boxes and communicating via telephone. He said Worcester could explore limiting access.
“If it’s a critical need, we could have a process put in place,” he said. “They could stand, somebody would come down, assess the need, and at that point it could be a calculated risk. Right now when we let them in it’s unfettered access.”
Bunting reiterated his concerns about the financial impact the county was going to be facing as a result of coronavirus.
“Our budget will be reduced,” he said.
The commissioners voted 7-0 to keep the government building open to the public for now.
