A vote to require the city-wide usage of facial coverings in response to the Covid-19 pandemic was doomed to fail without the mayor’s “Aye” Monday April 12, but city council Chair and Mayor, Butch Berry, swung the vote in favor of his recommended ordinance. The vote was 3-2, with aldermen Terry McClung and LauraJo Smole against, and the ordinance needed four votes to pass.
Alderman Bill Ott was absent, but Melissa Greene, Harry Meyer and Autumn Slane voted in favor of requiring face masks from the general public in all outdoor settings where there is exposure to non-household members unless there is six feet or more between them, and in all indoor environments within city limits. This includes non-household members where a distance of six feet or more cannot be assured, and is not limited to workplaces, retail stores, businesses, places of worship, courtrooms, jails/prisons, schools, healthcare facilities, and other people’s homes. While all these locations are listed in the ordinance, the main focus was for retail stores.
The ordinance gives local law enforcement and other city officials the direction to “act in a support capacity to local businesses that enforce the use of masks upon their premises.”
“The problem is,” Berry admitted, “it is still up to the individual shop owners when you go into their shop—if the shop owner does not want you in there without wearing a mask, then it [the ordinance] does have teeth.”
McClung replied, “Then I think that the way the state is now that the shopkeeper has that option anyway,” further questioning the mayor’s claim that the ordinance has any enforcement value. “I think we need to leave that up to the shopkeepers to impose that if they wish, then move forward.”
Ord. 2307 states the “support capacity” is to be provided by law enforcement and is intended to educate and encourage members of the public who decline to wear facial coverings regarding the efficacy of wearing such, according to the ADH guidance released in June 2020. If a member of the public refuses to wear a face mask in any local business, that individual must either abide by the requirement or leave the premises, and the ordinance states that law enforcement may act in a support capacity of the mask requirement.
McClung argued that the ordinance was not necessary as it could not be enforced, but Berry insisted that the ordinance had value for the business owners, and he used the city of Rogers as an example. McClung was not swayed, saying, “There is no enforcement of masks. There is none.”
“We are also seeing new viruses coming in from South America that are affecting us,” Berry said, and that while he believes the mask ordinance is important, that Eureka Springs should have some regulation supporting the wearing masks.
Smole, who also opposed Berry said, “I question just the idea behind constructing an ordinance that there is no means of enforcing… this is like we are going to make an ordinance about a suggestion, and I find that troublesome.”
McClung then introduced the idea of simply passing a resolution instead of an ordinance saying, “I think a resolution would be a whole lot simpler.”
City Attorney Tim Weaver stepped in and advised against that saying, “Mayor, I would suggest not doing a resolution because if we were to end up in a lawsuit over this I think that an ordinance would sustain us better in a court case. Hopefully, it would never come to that, but you are asking a police officer to escort people off if they won’t wear a mask and the business owner objects. So, they could become involved in a potential lawsuit.”
The ordinance was voted on three times and placed into effect through the emergency clause. Berry said this ordinance came by recommendation from the Arkansas Municipal League and Weaver provided a sunset clause to terminate the ordinance on June 30 unless further action is taken. Ord. 2307 will be mailed to all businesses in the city limits as soon as practical for display in a prominent area of the business or the primary entrance.
Vision Plan discussion put off
In other business, council approved Susan Hubbard’s seat on the Parks Commission until May 1, 2026.
There was no discussion of the elements or updates to the city’s vision plan, however it was stated that a future workshop would be a better setting to discuss the extensive plan.
The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, April 26 at 6 p.m. in the AUD.