These masks were made by Petersburg volunteer sewers Grace Wolf and Kelly Peterson for the Southeast Alaska Mask Makers program. The program gives free masks to people in Southeast Alaska, prioritizing medical workers. (Photo courtesy of Grace Wolf)

Petersburg’s Borough Assembly will consider three mandates regarding the Covid-19 outbreak at a regular meeting Monday night. The mandates look at face coverings, cruise ships, and businesses bringing workers to Petersburg from other places.

The face covering mandate would require people to cover their mouth and nose in situations when they might run into non-household members. Those scenarios would include when someone is inside open public buildings, when someone is inside closed buildings and around non-household members, and when someone is outside of buildings when social distancing cannot be met with non-household members. Examples of that include parking lots of open public buildings and harbor docks and floats. The mandate does not apply to children under two or those with chronic pulmonary or breathing conditions. The mandate would run until May 5.

Several letters have been submitted to the assembly about the face covering mandate, some in support of it and many against it.

The cruise ship mandate extends the CDC’s “No Sail Order” to smaller ships that might visit Petersburg. The mandate would not allow cruise ships of 25 or more passengers to use the harbor facilities or unload passengers unless they first get approval from the Borough Public Health Officer, Dr. Mark Tuccillo. Tuccillo would decide if and when to screen passengers for Covid-19. The captain of the vessel must contact Tuccillo at least 24-hours before arriving.

The business travel mandate would require businesses that are intending to bring essential workers into the borough to submit plans detailing how they would prevent the spread of the coronavirus. A state mandate already requires businesses to send a protective plan to the state. The borough wants to get that same information for business travelers involving Petersburg.

Other items on the agenda include two public hearings. One is on an ordinance amending the fiscal year budget to establish a local emergency disaster fund to respond to the Covid-19 outbreak. The other hearing is for an ordinance about a proposed refinancing by the Alaska Municipal Bond Bank of its general obligation bonds.

Assembly will also consider a new emergency ordinance approving $100,000 from the Economic Development Fund to the Petersburg Economic Development Council for local impacts from the Covid outbreak.

There will likely be a discussion about a state-wide survey on how comfortable communities are with reopening business. The survey was given to the borough by the Alaska Municipal League. It asks several questions including what kind of resources are needed to be able to manage reopening the economy.

The borough assembly meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. It will be teleconference only. People wanting to make comments to the assembly may email their comments to: Assembly@petersburgak.gov

People may also call in their comments during the assembly meeting. That number is 800-954-0633. For more information, email or call Clerk Debra Thompson – dthompson@petersburgak.gov or 772-5405.

KFSK will broadcast the meeting starting at 6 p.m.