Buncombe commissioners let COVID-19 mask mandate expire, approve landfill expansion

After being extended four times total, Buncombe's mask mandate for public indoor spaces will expire on Feb. 16, but local establishment can make or keep their own rules.

Buncombe County Board of Commissioners did not take any action on the face-covering requirement during the Feb. 15 meeting, allowing it to expire.

In a report sent to County Manager Avril Pinder Feb. 14 and during a statement Feb. 15, Public Health Director Stacie Saunders said Buncombe County Health and Human Services is no longer recommending a county-wide mask mandate for indoor spaces.

Feb. 15 she emphasized that, regardless of the board's decision, BCHHS still "strongly recommends" people wear masks in indoor public spaces.

More:Buncombe health director: Mask mandate no longer recommended as COVID-19 cases decline

Though the county-wide mask mandate will be over on Feb. 16, Saunders and Chairman Brownie Newman noted businesses and other entities will have the right to employ their own mandates.

"Regardless of the board’s action, individual businesses and organizations can continue to set face covering requirements for their facilities," Saunders emphasized. 

Newman said Buncombe judges had communicated with county officials and said they felt masking should remain mandatory in the courts.

He also noted schools make their own decisions on masking independent of the Board.

Pinder said Buncombe employees would have "the flexibility to wear a mask should they choose when they come into the office."

Later she said face coverings will continue to be required until further notice at:

• All public-facing Health and Human Services operations, including those at 40 Coxe Ave. and 35 Woodfin St.
• The Family Justice Center.
• The Buncombe County Detention Center.

The expired mandate won't affect federal mask requirements for public transportation. That rule is in place through March 18.

"I appreciate all the folks who have taken time to talk to us," Newman said. "There's a wide variety of viewpoints on this ... whether they've agreed with the policies we've made at the time or not."

Commissioner Robert Pressley said he was glad about the move and supported business' right to require masks and residents' personal decision to wear them.

Commissioner Al Whitesides said he hoped people were able to "respect the rights of others." He said he would continue to wear a mask.

Local COVID-19 data shows infections have been declining almost as quickly as they spiked at the end of December through the middle of January due to the virus' rapidly spreading omicron variant.

North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services respiratory surveillance data shows that 100% of sequenced cases in the state were omicron by the week ending Jan. 29.

More:Omicron should 'concern us all,' says Mission medical chief; nurses call for OSHA safety

According to weekly metrics released by the Buncombe's Health and Human Services, cases per 100,000 per week dropped from 523 to 386 between Feb. 7-14.

Saunders noted the per-100,000-per-week drop since Jan. 18 was approximately 67%.

Percent positivity has also steadily decreased from 19.6% to 15.5% in that same time frame. 

Buncombe continues to lose residents to virus-related deaths, however. Saunders said 21 new deaths recently have been added to the state's dashboard and nine of those happened between Feb. 7-14.

Hospitalizations, however, are on the decline.

"We’ve seen a considerable drop in inpatient hospital beds occupied with COVID-19 from last week to this week," Saunders said. "Last week, this indicator was 13.4% and now is 8.8%."

There were 104 patients with COVID-19 in the Mission Health network on Feb. 14, Saunders reported.

"Hospitalizations appear to have hit a peak three weeks ago with a total of 196 patients with COVID-19 in the system," she added.

Hospitalizations throughout the state are primarily among the unvaccinated, according to NCDHHS data Saunders presented Feb. 15. Those who have received a third or booster shot are even less likely to be hospitalized.

BCHHS has been promoting not only masks but vaccine efforts, especially since the beginning of 2022. 

"Vaccines continue to demonstrate effectiveness in preventing infection, severe illness, hospitalizations and deaths," Saunders said in a release, after noting about 70% of Buncombe has received a full first series of vaccines and 56% have received a booster vaccine. 

"In addition, evolving treatments and therapeutics continue to grow in supply and access. These treatments also help in reducing severe illness, hospitalizations and deaths in individuals at higher risk."

Landfill contract, spending reimbursement greenlighted 

Board of Commissioners Feb. 15 also approved a more than $12 million contract with Sargent Corp., headquartered in Maine, for construction at the Buncombe County Landfill in Alexander. 

This work could begin in March and be completed before the end  of the year, according to documents and Solid Waste Director Dane Pedersen. Sargent crews will expand municipal waste  Cell 7 and the construction and demolition portions of the landfill. 

This work that will go toward extending the landfill's lifespan to about 2040.

Sargent's was the lowest of three bids on the project.

In other business Feb. 15, Board of Commissioners approved a resolution to declaring the county’s intent to reimburse itself for capital expenditures on several county and school projects.

According to a memo on the topic, IRS regulations require counties to “adopt a Reimbursement Resolution if they intend to spend currently available funds on capital projects that will be financed by the later issuance of bonds…. In this case, we anticipate spending up to $30 million out of operating funds, then reimburse the county from a $56 million bond issue sometime in 2022.”

Andrew Jones is Buncombe County government and health care reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at @arjonesreports on Facebook and Twitter, 828-226-6203 or arjones@citizentimes.com. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.