For Immediate Release: Friday, August 21, 2020
The Montgomery County Council will introduce, hold a public hearing and vote on a resolution and Board of Health Regulation that would approve the following Executive Order beginning at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, August 24, 2020.
The Council is scheduled to act on a resolution approving Executive Order No. 098-20, COVID-19 Local Order – Amending and Restating Order dated August 5, 2020, sitting as the County Council. If the Council approves the Executive Order, the Council, sitting as the Board of Health, is scheduled to introduce, hold a public hearing and vote on a Board of Health regulation adopting Executive Order No. 098-20, COVID-19 Local Order – Amending and Restating Order dated August 5, 2020, as a Board of Health Regulation. The Board of Health Regulation is sponsored by the County Council. If adopted, Executive Order No. 098-20, COVID-19 Local Order – Amending and Restating Order dated August 5, 2020, would make the following changes to the prior orders:
Modify the definition of face covering to include covering the chin as well as the mouth and nose;
Permit bowling alleys to open with restrictions;
Reinstitute a requirement for foodservice facilities to post signs advising customers about face covering and social distancing restrictions;
Permit museums to open with restrictions;
Change a waiver requirement for religious outdoor service of more than 150 people to a letter of approval;
Recategorize soccer as a medium-risk sport;
Continue to prohibit sports tournaments unless the County issues a letter of approval instead of a waiver;
Prohibit sporting events with teams from outside the District of Columbia, Maryland or Virginia; and
Set a 50 person limit for all sporting events which includes coaches, participants and spectators.
Documents and information are available at www.montgomerycountymd.gov/council.
During the COVID-19 state of emergency, the public is not able to be physically present in the Council Hearing Room. Residents who would like to call in to testify at a Council public hearing need to preregister on the Council's web page at https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/council/calendar.html .
Once the public hearing sign up request form is submitted and the public hearing list is created, individuals will receive separate confirmation notifications that include the appropriate phone number to call for the public hearing.
Community members also have the option to provide audio, video and written testimony to the Council using a recently developed online testimony form on the Council's web page which can be found at https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/COUNCIL/PHSignUp.html. The testimony provided with the online option carries the same weight as testimony given at a public hearing.
Councilmembers consider all comments as part of their deliberations. Comments and suggestions are welcome online at http://tinyurl.com/zrbwh5v; via email at county.council@montgomerycountymd.gov; by sending regular mail to County Council, 100 Maryland Ave., Rockville, MD 20850. For information or to express an opinion call 240-777-7900.
The meeting will be televised live by County Cable Montgomery (CCM) on Xfinity channels 6 and 996, RCN channels 6 and 1056; and FiOS channel 30. Also available live via streaming through the Council website at http://tinyurl.com/z9982v8, Facebook Live (@MontgomeryCountyMdCouncil or @ConcejodelCondadodeMontgomery), or YouTube (@MoCoCouncilMD).
# # #
Release ID: 20-355