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County says it’s time to go green

Sends letter to governor urging move soon

LOCK HAVEN — When will Clinton County go green?

The Clinton County commissioners have been asked that question many times recently. They’ve also been accused of not doing their job by pushing Governor Tom Wolf harder to get the county moved from the yellow phase to the green phase.

At Thursday’s commissioners meeting the board responded the best way they know how, saying the governor will make that decision, not the commissioners, and explaining they have been doing everything they can to let the governor know Clinton County is ready for the move.

Commissioner Miles Kessinger said a letter from the commissioners was hand-delivered to the governor’s office on Tuesday, urging the governor to consider moving Clinton County into the green phase, and expressing disappointment that there is no date for this advancement.

Contents of the letter follow:

“While most of the larger employers have been able to remain open as life-sustaining businesses, our small businesses are suffering particularly our restaurants and taverns and our salons and barber shops. We fear that many will find it difficult to reopen and maintain their operations if they are not permitted to return to earning their livelihood soon.

“We feel that our adherence to the guidelines have helped keep our number of cases low. Our county-owned nursing home has seen no outbreak to date, whatsoever and through the efforts of our institutions and our citizens we have been protecting our most vulnerable.

“We are confident that Clinton County businesses will follow all recommended procedures for reopening in the green phase and that we will not see a resurgence in the number of cases after going green. They understand how important it will be to do things right so as not to go backward. The majority of our business owners are in favor of the move to green and we are hearing more and more from them everyday, imploring us to make a case to your office for allowing more expanded business activity in Clinton County as soon as possible.”

Another letter from State Sen. Joseph Scarnati was also hand-delivered to the governor this week.

Scarnati wrote,”Clinton County is both ready and desirous of moving to the least restrictive green designation in dealing with the COVID-19 crisis. Clinton County’s political leadership, business community, emergency service and healthcare systems are working together proactively to monitor and address local COVID issues and impacts as they arise.

“Clinton County has had only 54 cases of the virus, has more than adequate beds for any increases and has a testing capacity through UPMC and Geisinger Medical Center,” Scarnati continued, requesting the governor move the county to green.

In addition to these letters, the commissioners have also asked the governor for the parameters for going green, but have not gotten any answers, Kessinger said.

During the meeting which was live-streamed, each of the commissioners commented on the situation after a member of the public asked what the commissioners were doing to get the county moved into the green phase.

Kessinger responded that the board has been doing everything it can and has requested Clinton County be considered to go green on June 5. “Only the governor can make that decision,” he said.

“We have been contacting the governor’s office every day,” Commissioner Jeff Snyder said. “It’s our priority every day. Just because we’re not in the headlines doesn’t mean we’re not reaching out to find out when we will go green.”

Commissioner Angela Harding added, “We’re trying to get answers. We don’t have a direct line to the governor. We have to work through his representatives. While I agree our businesses and individuals have the where-with-all and the intelligence… we must remain diligent. The virus is still out there. Our numbers are low because we are wearing masks and social distancing. We must continue to do that to protect our most vulnerable citizens,” Harding said.

Harding applauded the staff at Susque-View Home for keeping residents there safe from the epidemic.

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