Brighton, Bennett & Castle Rock To Opt Out Of Face Mask Mandate
DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) -- Brighton, Bennett and Castle Rock have joined Douglas County in expressing their intentions to opt out of the mask order the Tri-County Health Department plans to activate on July 24. Leaders from each municipality issued statements in recent days.
Bennett
On Wednesday, the Town of Bennett Board of Trustees voted to issue a formal statement to TCHD activating the opt-out clause. The Board of Trustees voted 6-1 to opt-out of the order.
"By the data released by Tri-County Health, I believe we have lower cases than the rest of Adams and Arapahoe County, and because of that I believe our residents should choose what is best for their personal health," Bennett Mayor Royce Pindell said. "We still strongly encourage residents to be responsible about their personal hygiene by frequently washing their hands, cleaning highly touched surfaces, keeping appropriate social distance and wearing a mask when they feel necessary."
"We want our businesses to stay safe and open and residents to respect their individual guidelines when it comes to wearing a mask," Pindell added.
The Town of Bennett still encourages their residents to wear a mask when they cannot keep a distance of six feet from residents not in their household. The Town of Bennett is providing free face masks to vulnerable and at-risk residents, they can be picked up at Town Hall, 207 Muegge Way
Brighton
On Tuesday, the Brighton City Council voted 9-0 to opt-out of the Tri-County Health Department's face mask requirement.
"This means that the Tri-County Order set to take effect on July 24 will not apply within the Brighton city limits. Face coverings will still be required in all City facilities. City Council still strongly encourages residents to follow its May 5 vote to wear a face covering in public when social distancing is not possible," officials stated.
The City Council's vote included the request to re-evaluate the face covering provision every two weeks at City Council meetings.
Castle Rock
"The Town of Castle Rock Town Council unanimously voted in favor of opting out of Tri-County Health Department's public health order requiring face coverings. The decision was influenced by the low incidences of COVID-19 and related hospitalizations in Douglas County without a face covering mandate, along with data from Tri-County showing up to 80% of County residents already wearing masks in public. Our decision to opt out of Tri-County's mandate does not change the fact that State health orders still strongly encourage wearing face coverings, require wearing masks in certain situations and give businesses the right to refuse service for those not wearing masks," officials stated.
Parker
The Parker Town Council has signaled it is leaning toward voting to opt out of the mask order, according to the Parker Chronicle.
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