Madison County — On Dec. 16, the Madison County Board of Supervisors approved a resolution introduced by Cazenovia Supervisor Bill Zupan relating to the enforcement of New York State’s new indoor mask mandate.
On Dec. 10, Governor Kathy Hochul announced that masks are required to be worn in all indoor public places unless businesses or venues implement a vaccination requirement. The new mandate, which went into effect on Dec. 13, 2021, will be effective until Jan. 15, 2022, at which point the state will reassess its efficacy and the COVID numbers.
The board of supervisors unanimously approved Zupan’s resolution “to continue to support the wearing of masks and leave the enforcement of the health commissioner’s determination on indoor masking up to the New York State Department of Health.”
The resolution begins by stating that the county has always promoted and encouraged the wearing of masks in public places to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, and it has continued to encourage residents to get the COVID-19 vaccination and booster.
Zupan notes that as a result of the county’s efforts, particularly the efforts of its health department, Madison County has one of the highest vaccination rates in the state, with 81 percent of the 18+ population vaccinated and over 71 percent of the total eligible population vaccinated.
Zupan also quotes the following New York State Department of Health statement: “We do expect this protocol to be largely self-enforcing. It is our expectation that New Yorkers will understand the importance of following this requirement as we continue through the holiday season.”
He goes on to explain that for the past 21 months, the county health department has focused all its effort on promoting the wearing of masks, vaccinations/booster shots, expanded COVID-19 testing, contact tracing, and public health education.
“. . . We cannot ask them to do more without sacrificing those efforts,” Zupan wrote.
According to the resolution, all complaints received regarding violations of the mask mandate with be forwarded to the New York State Department of Health for action. Meanwhile, the county will continue to promote mask use, vaccinations/boosters, testing, and staying home if feeling ill. Additionally, the Madison County Board of Supervisors will work with the health department to encourage and help businesses to promote mask-wearing. However, the county will not use “additional or existing resources” to enforce the mandate.
Before voting, the board heard from a director of the Madison County Snowmobile Association, who spoke on behalf of the snowmobile community.
The community member said that approximately 10,000 voters in the snowmobile community support Madison County Chairman John Becker and the statement he made shortly after hearing from state leaders about the return of indoor mask-wearing requirements.
In an interview with NewsChannel 9, Becker stated that although Madison County agrees with masks and vaccination, it is not going to enforce the new mask or vaccine requirements.
“. . . We can’t enforce it, so we’re not going to enforce it,” he said.
In the interview, Becker explained that the county health department does not have the staff required to go from business to business making sure the state rules are being followed. He added that he is not willing to supplement with other departments.
Hamilton Supervisor Eve Ann Shwartz also addressed the board prior to the vote.
“The proposed resolution is a good compromise that has come out over the last few days and [from] the discussion that has taken place in the community,” she said. “I want to commend every supervisor who has been involved in working on this to try to find a compromise. . . I think that we need to keep on coming together as a community and working together, and I think this is a step in the right direction. At this point, my only concern [is that] we need, as a board of supervisors, to remember that we can’t speak without conversing with each other and reaching a consensus. This is the process that we should have gone through, and I’m glad we did go through that.”
Following the vote, Zupan expressed his gratitude to the board, stating that he spoke with most of the members while drafting the resolution.
“Even though you sometimes didn’t agree with my stance, [you] had very thoughtful comments, and I took them into consideration,” Zupan said.
Prior to considering the resolution, the board received a comprehensive update from Public Health Director Eric Faisst on the Madison County Health Department’s ongoing efforts to address the recent rise in COVID cases and contain the pandemic moving forward. He also discussed the differences between the current mask mandate and the state’s April 12, 2020, face-covering mandate for public and private employees interacting with the public.
“Madison County did carry out enforcement activities in response to the 2020 mandate,” Faisst said. “However, the situations in which these mandates were issued are dramatically different. It is in these differences that create our current challenges.”
A video of the live-streamed Board of Supervisors Annual Session (Day 4), including Faisst’s complete presentation, is available on the “Madison County, NY” YouTube page.
To learn more about the Madison County Board of Supervisors, visit madisoncounty.ny.gov.
