City of San Angelo Expected to Extend Emergency Declaration Thursday Afternoon

SAN ANGELO, TX — A special emergency meeting of the San Angelo City Council was called for 3 p.m. Thursday afternoon in council chambers at the McNease Convention Center. On the meeting agenda is a single item, “Consider declaring an extension to the declaration of a local disaster.”

Monday, Mayor Brenda Gunter declared Public Health Emergency as the City government’s initial response to the coronavirus.

“This declaration prohibits gatherings of more than 50 people in one space, whether in a public or private space. This does not include places where citizens can be within at least one arm’s length of one another, such as grocery stores, transit stations, hospitals or shopping malls,” Gunter said Monday.

That was just three days ago and the situation has changed considerably since then. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered all restaurant dining rooms closed, bars closed, schools closes, and gyms closed statewide at noon today. The State will also restrict public gatherings to 10 people or less. San Angelo officials will be enforcing the new restrictions. On Tuesday, Gunter told us that the City’s code compliance officers were the ones to notify if a citizen wanted to report more than 50 people inside a restaurant.

In accordance with Texas Government Code Section 551.045, municipalities and counties have the authority to issue emergency declarations. However, the code specifies that if the mayor alone makes an emergency declaration, the council must convene in session within seven days to extend it.

This is that meeting, apparently.

On the agenda is a single item, though like with all City Council meetings there will be time allotted for general citizens’ comments prior to taking up the agenda item.

City Public Affairs spokesman Brian Groves was present at the emergency management meeting with city, county and health care providers this morning. He said Tom Green County has no confirmed cases of illness or infections caused by COVID-19, the coronavirus as of this morning.