By Josh Margolis
HAVRE, Mont. (NMB) – During the monthly Hill County Officials meeting on Thursday morning, Sheriff Jamie Ross announced that an inmate in the Detention Center had tested positive for COVID-19.
“We’ve had some issues with our jail,” Ross said. “We have a positive inmate in (the jail) and we’re dealing with mitigating those circumstances.”
Ross did not provide any details on when the positive test was confirmed or whether the inmate has been symptomatic.
“We have a plan for both our Detention Center and our patrol staff,” Ross said. “A written document plan that I have shared with the Health Department. And I guess that’s what I can tell you.”
As of Thursday morning, there were 23 inmates in the Hill County Detention Center.
Other updates from the meeting:
Clerk & Recorder’s Office
As of early Thursday, around 44 percent of ballots have been returned to the Courthouse. Clerk and Recorder Sue Armstrong says they’ve been “swamped” with election-related work, and suggests those that haven’t received a ballot yet go to the Courthouse to resolve any issues with registration.
Disaster and Emergency Services
DES Coordinator Amanda Frickel says fire season has slowed due to recent precipitation.
She collaborated and organized a meeting with Northern Montana Hospital, the Health Department, Senator Steve Daines’ office, the state DES office, and Board of Health Members on opening up communication.
“We’ve been working with them, learing about their capacity, their EOP (Emergency Operations Plan), the state of the Hospital. They have quite the outbreak at the Care Center.”
Frickel has been staying in contact with officials at the Care Center to order testing supplies and ensure they have adequate PPE.
The state DES will be offering counties a cache of PPE that they will store and be able to deploy as necessary.
Much of the PPE has been going to the Havre Fire Department, as many of their calls are relating to COVID-19 patients needing ambulance service
“So all of their disposable gowns and things, they’ve been going through rapidly.”
Frickel is also working with the Health Department to set up housing for people in either isolation and quarantine that don’t have a place to go, where they can now be monitored.
Health Officer Kim Larson added that they have had “a couple” homeless people test positive for COVID-19, and they have come up with an arrangement to be able to isolate them at a local hotel.
Elevator and Air Conditioner Update
The Courthouse elevator remains out of operation. Repairs have been delayed due to a mix-up from the contractor, when they sent a generator instead of a motor.
They hope to have the elevator back in operation within the next few weeks.
For those unable to make it up the stairs to the Clerk & Recorder’s Office, they can vote in the Timmons Room on the ground floor. More information, including a number to call for help, is available both inside and outside the Courthouse.
As for the air conditioning system in the Courthouse, that is expected to be operational by next week, although it likely won’t be used until next year due to the drop in temperatures.
County Attorney
County Attorney Karen Alley says work in her office has been close to normal, and crime hasn’t slowed much. She expects violent crimes such as assaults to increase with people staying inside.
Weed & Mosquito District
Weed and Mosquito District Coordinator said they did not have any mosquitos test positive for the West Nile Virus in Hill County this year.
Turner added that most of their traps this year came up with around 250 mosquitos, when they use to come up with around 2,000.
They have had some small issues with a fogger and a computer on a truck, but they have been repaired.
Weed wise, there have been a few new invasive species popping up that they are working on controlling.
Superintendent of Schools
Superintendent Marie Deegan says all rural schools in Hill County continue to hold in-person instruction, and there have not been any reports of COVID-19 exposure.
Justice of the Peace
Hill County Justice of the Peace Audrey Barger says after consulting with the Health Department, five jury trials that were scheduled to occur between this week and November 12th have been delayed due to the rise in COVID-19 in the area.
“I’m going to reevaluate that as we go. I do have some set later in November, of course in December, but we’ll roll with the punches.”
Barger adds that all Courts in Hill County have been impacted in some way by COVID-19, and they continue to make every effort to protect the health of the public.
“We’ve adopted a lot of measures in that regard, because the Judicial Branch needs to stay open and available to the public.”
All Treatment Court programs have been transferred to District Court.
The next Hill County Officials meeting is scheduled for November 19th.
