UPDATED: Curry County rebuffs OSHA guidelines ... for now

CLOVIS — In a 3-2 vote, the Curry County Commission declined to ratify county policy on COVID-19 requiring vaccination or weekly COVID-19 testing, put in place earlier this month in accordance with federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration requirements.

The commission planned a do-over, with one of the deciding voters saying he made a mistake following the three-hour meeting. A special meeting called for a new vote on the matter was canceled Thursday, pursuant to the Supreme Court ruling striking down the OSHA requirements.

Voting against ratification of the policy, created to align with Jan. 4 guidance from OSHA, were Commissioners Robert Thornton, Robert Sandoval and Seth Martin — who took the resolution off of the consent agenda. Voting for the measure were Chairman Chet Spear and Commissioner Tom Martin.

Sandoval, who has attended meetings virtually due to other commissioner members declining to wear face coverings, talked to The News following the meeting and said he believed the vote was covering a different resolution. The resolution in question, which was not on the Tuesday agenda, covered the current scenario that gives County Manager Lance Pyle authority to make changes to policy as new COVID-19 policies come down from the state and federal levels, provided the commission is able to ratify his decisions later.

“I had another resolution I was thinking about, and I messed up,” said Sandoval, who said he stands behind Pyle’s decisions on COVID-19 policies. “I was talking about a resolution we had on another vote. I messed up and we’re trying to correct it now.”

Until and unless the commission votes to ratify the policy, the county is out of compliance with OSHA.

“It’s a federal law,” Pyle said. “Based on the action, we are subject to the penalties.”

The OSHA website calls for maximum penalties of $13,653 per day or $136,632 for willful or repeated violations, but would likely grant the county leniency for an admitted mistake that is remedied in a matter of days.

Commissioners discussed the policy ratification for about 25 minutes, with Commissioners Martin taking different approaches.

Seth Martin, who was not wearing a face covering at the meeting, specifically asked Pyle who would pay for the weekly tests for unvaccinated employees. Pyle said the county would cover the expense, and that a deal was still being finalized with a provider.

Seth Martin approved of the answer, noting that making employees cover the test amounts to a fine for choosing to not be vaccinated. He said singling out somebody for choosing not to wear a facemask or vaccinate is a form of bullying.

“We still have personal rights,” Seth Martin said, “and when we (act) on this broad of a scale, it concerns me.”

Tom Martin responded that, “the bullying goes both ways,” and the county’s 9,400 COVID-19 cases and 138 deaths were what concerned him.

Spear said he wears a facemask because he’s high-risk, others do it because they feel it’s the right thing to do and others choose not to, and he respects all of their rights and opinions. But regarding the policy, Spear moved for approval and said, “it’s the law; we have to do it.”

In other business during the meeting:

• The county approved an update to its pay plan, with new minimums, midpoints and maximums for all positions.

The policy first affects 29 county employees who are being paid less than the minimum for their position. Bringing those employees up to the new minimum of those positions will run the county $47,051.

For any employee paid between minimum and their midpoint, a raise will be applied based on service time — 3% for two to three years service, 1.5% for three to five years, 1% for 10-20 years and 0.5% for 20-plus years. Additionally, raises are provided to employees who attain colle^ge degrees not specifically required by their job — 2% for an associate’s, 4% for a bachelor’s or 6% for a master’s.

• The commission made an agreement with the Administrative Office of the Courts on terms and conditions for a new magistrate court to be added to the county’s judicial complex on the 700 and 800 blocks of Main Street.

Arthur Pepin, director for the AOC, said the office is looking to acquire funding from the state legislative session for the project, as opposed to the standard process of letting a county pay for the construction and recoup the money through lease payments from AOC. Pepin said the move would lower the office’s costs once the building is in place, but would still make some payments for utilities and other expenses.

Spear asked about the chance of cost overruns, and noted the county has already seen its share of them. Pepin said the phases of the project would be timed so the office would have a good idea of how much to request, and added the Legislature isn’t going to just halt a project mid-construction over moderate price increases.

• The county scheduled a special meeting via Zoom for 2 p.m. Monday to discuss the federal “30 by 30” program to conserve as least 30% of land and water by 2030 to confront the threats of climate change.

• The next regular meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Feb. 8.