Commissioners follow Stitt's lead, drop pandemic restrictions

Mar. 16—NORMAN — The Cleveland County Board of Commissioners on Monday voted to loosen the courthouse mask order after a presentation from the county's emergency management director, George Mauldin.

"Friday Governor Stitt issued an executive order that removed all COVID-19 related restrictions throughout the state, including the requirement to wear face masks in government buildings," Mauldin told the commissioners. "I recommend that we no longer require the wearing of face masks in county buildings but encourage the use of masks in settings when individuals cannot maintain proper social distance of six feet for 15 minutes or more."

Commissioners agreed and voted unanimously to support the recommendation.

The vote came after Mauldin's report on the state of COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations, immunizations and deaths.

According to his report, the average for new cases has declined in the last 9 weeks while hospitalizations have been decreasing for eight weeks. As of March 12, "there were 253 individuals hospitalized with COVID-19, the lowest number since July 2, 2020. There were 71 individuals in the ICU (intensive care units), the lowest number since June 17, 2020."

Mauldin also reported that Cleveland County is in the orange category with 14.9 new cases per 100,000 population, the lowest rate since Sept. 3, 2020.

Oklahoma falls below the national case fatality rate of 1.8% to 1.1% in the state. Mauldin quoted Oklahoma State Department of Health immunization reports which show that 21.5% of Cleveland County residents 16 and older have at least received the first dose of a vaccine, with 54.5 of those 65 and older and 42.3% of those 65 and older having received two doses.

Stitt's reversal of statewide pandemic restrictions were met with criticism from state health officials who issued statements that it was too soon to lift protections. Mandates remain in place for Norman, Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Moore did not adopt a mask mandate.

Commissioners also approved a resolution to remove the Human Resources Department from under the supervision of the county budget board to the board of commissioners with District 3 Harold Haralson as the supervisor.

The commission dissolved the budget board in a 2-1 decision, with District 1 Rod Cleveland being the no vote. The board will officially cease to meet at the beginning of the next fiscal year on July 1.

In other business, the commission adopted a resolution to implement a clean energy economic development tool, C-PACE (Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy). The program is a financing mechanism for economic development that "leverages property tax rolls as collateral to extend the life of that loan out for the life of that improvement," said a spokeswoman from INCOG, the Indian Nations Council of Governments.

Counties with a C-PACE program allows developers to secure private, low interest loans for "eligible energy improvements secured as a special assessment on a property," presentation documents read. The program encourages "private sector commercial building investment, improves the county's property tax base, and helps create local jobs. The longterm loan is paid in parallel with the county's property tax system — and the private C-PACE lender, not the county, handles the billing and loan collection. There is no cost or administrative program burden to the county."

Builders identify a project, choose a C-PACE lender who provides financing, and a C-PACE assessment contract between owner, lender and the county is recorded in land records. The lender annually pays the bills and collects loan payments from the owner. Until the loan is repaid, the C-PACE assessment remains with the property and transfers to new owners if the building is sold, the presentation reads.

Mindy Wood covers City Hall news and notable court cases for The Transcript. Reach her at [email protected] or 405-416-4420.

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