Public Hearing Notice on Executive Order No. 19-21, COVID-19 Local Order

Public Hearing Notice on Executive Order No. 19-21, COVID-19 Local Order

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For Immediate Release: Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021

ROCKVILLE, Md., Feb. 3, 2021—The Montgomery County Council will introduce the following Executive Order on Thursday, Feb. 4. A public hearing and vote will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021 starting at 10:05 a.m. The deadline to sign up to testify is Monday, Feb. 8 at 5 p.m.

On Feb. 4, the Council is scheduled to introduce a Resolution approving Executive Order No. 19-21, COVID-19 Local Order – Amending and Restating Order dated December 15, 2020. The Council, sitting as the Board of Health, is also scheduled to introduce a resolution to adopt Executive Order 19-21 as a Board of Health Regulation on Feb. 4.

The Council is scheduled to hold a public hearing and act on both of these Resolutions concerning Executive Order No. 19-21, COVID-19 Local Order – Amending and Restating Order dated December 15, 2020 on Feb. 9 starting at 10:05 a.m. If adopted, Executive Order No. 19-21, COVID-19 Local Order – Amending and Restating Order dated December 15, 2020 would make the following changes to the prior orders with a proposed effective date of Feb. 9, 2021, at 5 p.m.:

Executive Order Number 19-21 would reopen indoor dining at 25 percent capacity, suspend alcohol sales at 10 p.m. and limit indoor dining to a one-hour dining period. Additional changes include:

1. general housekeeping changes including updated references and links to the State of Emergency and Catastrophic Health Emergency renewals and current State Executive Order;
   
2. updated the link to the American Academy of Pediatrics Face Covering exceptions (paragraph 2.vii.) (added the word “certain” to show that AAP now recommends that children refrain from wearing face coverings only while engaging in certain sports);
   
3. removed deadline references for letter of approval requests for retail to exceed 150 persons (paragraph 6.j.); and
   
4. reorganized the Foodservice Establishment section (6.e.) to make it easier to read.

The proposed effective date would be Feb. 9, 2021, at 5 p.m. The Council staff report and Executive Order No. 19-21, COVID-19 Local Order can be found here.

Documents and information are available at www.montgomerycountymd.gov/council.
NOTE: During the Covid-19 state of emergency, the public is not able to be physically present in the Council Hearing Room. Residents who would like to call in to testify at a Council public hearing need to preregister on the Council's web page at https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/council/calendar.html . Once the public hearing sign up request form is submitted and the public hearing list is created, individuals will receive separate confirmation notifications that include the appropriate phone number to call for the public hearing.

Community members also have the option to provide audio, video and written testimony to the Council using a recently developed online testimony form on the Council's web page which can be found at https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/COUNCIL/PHSignUp.html. The testimony provided with the online option carries the same weight as testimony given at a public hearing. Councilmembers consider all comments as part of their deliberations.

Comments and suggestions are welcome online at http://tinyurl.com/zrbwh5v; via email at county.council@montgomerycountymd.gov; by sending regular mail to County Council, 100 Maryland Ave., Rockville, MD 20850. For information or to express an opinion call 240-777-7900.

The meeting will be televised live by County Cable Montgomery (CCM) on Xfinity channels 6 and 996, RCN channels 6 and 1056; and FiOS channel 30. Also available live via streaming through the Council website at http://tinyurl.com/z9982v8, Facebook Live (@MontgomeryCountyMdCouncil or @ConcejodelCondadodeMontgomery), or YouTube (@MoCoCouncilMD).

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