Crowd connects via webinar on COVID-19

Business leaders hopeful Little will soon allow them to reopen storefronts

More than 100 people were connected online for the first North Idaho business leaders meeting on COVID-19 on Friday.

The hour-long videoconference using Zoom was hosted by Ryan Arnold, with Hayden Mayor Steve Griffitts, Post Falls Mayor Ron Jacobson and Kootenai County Sheriff Ben Wolfinger joining in.

It ranged from concerns about businesses being shut down, how to access government loans and streaming public meetings live.

“Our lives are going to be different more than they’ve ever been,” Griffitts said.

Jacobson said they’ve closed city hall, laid off seasonal workers and waived some fees.

He said he has been asked to petition Gov. Brad Little to reopen churches, but said he can’t “and won’t for various reasons.”

Griffitts said Little has said he wants to reopen the gates of commerce quickly. Businesses deemed nonessential have been shut down since Little’s order last week.

“It was nice to see that was his focus,” Griffitts said.

He said he knows business owners are frustrated and suffering financially.

He spoke of an “interesting dichotomy.”

“Are we injuring or mortally injuring 1,000 economically to save 50?” Griffitts asked.

He called the government-ordered shutdown of businesses and stay-home order “unprecedented” and said people are questioning if it is being effective.

“I don’t know anybody has the answer to that,” he said.

But Griffitts said he did know that, “I have never seen a community come together like our community has.”

Little’s stay-home order is set to expire April 15. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee just extended that state’s stay-home order to May 4.

Little is expected to announce whether he will extend his order next week.

“The more notice we can have, the better,” said Naomi Boutz with Vine and Olive restaurant in Coeur d’Alene.

Griffitts joked that he recommended the Donut House in Hayden was considered an essential service.

“Sometimes, we just need that comfort,” he added, smiling.

On staying in touch with the public, the city of Rathdrum will be using a combination of Zoom meeting/webinar to do its public hearings and will be doing a test for citizens on April 9, per a message from administrator Leon Duce.

Likewise for the city of Coeur d’Alene, according to Hilary Anderson, community planning director, who posted this chat message:

“The City of Coeur d’Alene is continuing our City Council and Planning Commission meetings using Zoom too. Our Planning Commission meeting on April 14th will have four public hearings. We will be using Zoom and streaming live to YouTube and Facebook. We created an online sign-in sheet for the public and applicants to sign up to speak for each hearing item. We have been doing mock meetings to test the technology. We are also using Zoom to conduct some building inspections and planning inspections for permits virtually.”

On the health care front, a 100-bed mobile unit for COVID-19 patients is being prepared, if necessary, for the Kootenai County Fairgrounds and could be in the Jacklin Seed Building.

An assessment team will review the site this weekend, Wolfinger said.

“Will the mobile care unit contemplated at the fairgrounds for active COVID-19 conditions accept patients directly and perform testing, or will it only accept discharges from the ER?” Tyson Frantz asked in a posted message.

Wolfinger said it will not be a testing facility, but added it was early in the planning stages.

“In another week we’ll have a lot more answers,” he said.

One person asked about dealing with the coronavirus should it resurface in the future.

Jacobson said there’s no way to say, adding that people had to get through this current situation, first.

“We don’t have any good solution at this point,” Jacobson said.

Griffitts encouraged those at home to “figure out how to make this effective in our lives.”

“This can be whatever we make it and I hope we can make it something we can be proud of when we look back,” he said.

Organizers are planning to conduct such a video conference with area leaders every Friday. Next week’s will cover financial aspects of recovering from COVID-19 and federal resources.