During a Mountlake Terrace City Council special work/study session Saturday aimed at strategic planning and goal-setting, another topic of importance was raised: The city’s response to the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak.

While mayors in the neighboring cities of Edmonds and Lynnwood have declared a state of emergency and in some cases have closed facilities (for example, Lynnwood closed its senior center and Edmonds, its recreation center), City Manager Scott Hugill says the City of Mountlake Terrace is “open for business.”

“All facilities — pavilion, parks, programs, we have not canceled anything,” Hugill said.

In doing so, the city is following guidance from the Snohomish Health District, which has said that “it’s a personal decision whether to attend events, a personal decision based on your hygiene and your health,” the city manager explained. “So if you’re an individual with a compromised immunity system, you can make the choice not to attend something. But we’re not going to make a choice that everybody else can’t attend something because really at the end of the day it’s a personal choice.”

The city’s programs “are out there for the benefit of the public we serve,” Hugill added. “While I know a number of cities have declared emergencies and canceled programs, the (Edmonds) school district is still holding classes. I think that’s an indication that it’s a personal decision.”

The main reason for declaring an emergency is to either suspend laws or to access resources that otherwise wouldn’t be available, and Mountlake Terrace “is not in either of those situations,” Hugill said. (The city manager noted after the meeting that the city could declare a state of emergency later if the situation required it.)

“This is really an emergency for the Snohomish Health District to declare. They’ve got the tools under state law to be able to quarantine, treat, educate, all of that. We’re not doctors and we’re not pretending to be doctors, and we’re following their lead. We don’t feel we have to shut down our programs and facilities.”

Mayor Pro Tem Doug McCardle then asked Hugill when the city would consider shutting down facilities. “If the health district advised us to — then we would do it,” Hugill replied. “At this point our role under the county emergency response plan…is to help the health district.”

In addition, city staff attending Saturday’s meeting said they haven’t received requests from residents asking that the city shut down its offices or facilities. Community Relations Director Virginia Olsen said customers are asking whether offices are open so they can take care of business.

Recreation and Parks Director Jeff Betz said that the city did experience “quite a few” cancellations of Pavilion pool and room rentals over the weekend stemming from concerns about the virus. During conference calls late last week with King County and Snohomish County parks and recreation directors, Betz said that parks departments’ responses to the virus “are all over the map,” in terms of facilities closures.

— By Teresa Wippel