All 120 seats in the Park County courthouse were full, and people spilled out into the hallway and into an overflow room set up down the hall live streaming the Park County’s Board of Health most recent meeting.
The increased attention came after the now retired Health Department Director brought forward the Department’s decades old Isolation and Quarantine Plan for review at the board's October meeting.
The plan drafted in 2004 outlined the potential power the county would have to enforce isolation and quarantine in the event of a contagious outbreak. The plan was never used during covid-19 and discussion on updating or revising the plan was ultimately tabled.
However, the plan opened up concerns from the public and even alleged email threats to members of the health board. At Wednesday’s meeting Park County sheriff’s deputies were asked to attend to keep to the peace.
But the discussion remained cordial, even as residents expressed differing opinions.
Karen Stenseth was one of many residents who expressed disapproval of the since tabled plan regarding isolation and quarantine.
“With regards to the totalitarian, power grab of a policy, force testing, treatment and isolation we will not comply” Stenseth said.
Although a minority, others showed up to show support for the work of the board including Tisza Bell.
“ I place my trust in the board it’s competency and it’s ability to make decisions” Bell said.
Board chair Stephanie Lange says throughout the nearly 4 hour of meeting everyone who wanted to give public comment was able.
“ My whole goal was for people to feel heard and seen and I hope that is what happened” Lange said.
Lange says the board has plans for some more informational sessions which can be a more engaging public forum for better understanding of how the board and its plans function.
The controversial and outdated plan is likely to reappear at the next board meeting in April along with a presentation of a more current plan from 2019 that make the controversial plan unnecessary and provide more flexibility in enforcement.
