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Truckee officials give update on face coverings order

Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered all Californians to wear face coverings while in public or high-risk settings.

Today, the Town of Truckee and other local officials released a statement regarding mandatory face coverings and the steps the town will take moving forward.

“We are asking our community and our visitors to take the responsibility to keep our community safe,” said Administrative Services Director Kim Szczurek during today’s Town Council meeting. “The police department code compliance won’t be involved in giving tickets or enforcement, but it’s an obligation that we have to each other. We want to honor our community in that way.”



In its message today, officials urged the community to adhere to Gov. Newsom’s call for mandatory face coverings.

“Wearing a mask during this time is a simple, responsible and beneficial measure for the health of ourselves and others,” said Harry Weis, President & CEO of Tahoe Forest Health System.



Truckee Mayor David Polivy spoke from the standpoint of local business owners during today’s Town Council meeting, outlining the need to balance reopening with protecting residents and visitors from the virus.

“It’s gotten significantly busier,” said Polivy during the meeting. “I think we’ve all seen the uptick in activity around town and we still have — coming from a small business myself — we still have a lot of staffing issues  and there’s a lot of unemployment out there, and there’s a lot contributing to staffing levels at this point … I just really want to give a plea to the community to just be patient with each business.”

For local businesses and organizations seeking relief, the Nevada County Relief Fund is looking for grant applications from nonprofits and small businesses. The second round of grant making will close tomorrow with awards announced by July 7. The first round of relief funds allocated $210,000 to eight nonprofits and 28 small businesses. For more information, visit http://www.nevcorelief.org.

While the Truckee-Tahoe area continues to move further into reopening, Nevada County health officials stated the 10 new confirmed cases announced last Wednesday marked the highest single day increase in COVID-19 cases since the outbreak began.

Many of these new cases, according to the county, have been the result of people relaxing social distancing precautions.

“Seeing a significant increase in cases as we did this week is alarming and will continue to be monitored, although we are not yet at a place where we would look at additional restrictions.” said Nevada County officials in a statement on Friday.

Though there’s been a surge in confirmed cases, Nevada County is moving deeper into Stage 3 of reopening, and as of last Friday, is allowing personal care services like nail salons to restart operations.

“We must all do our part. We need to be thoughtful and consider those around us. We want to slow the spread of COVID-19 and support our businesses in staying open and keeping their customers and employees safe,” stated John Manocchio, Chair Truckee Chamber Board of Directors.

As part of continuing to reopen, Truckee Town Council ratified a business operations plan for town employees during today’s meeting. Town Council also approved of a letter to the state that will be signed by Polivy along with the mayors of Nevada City, Grass Valley, and the chair of the board of supervisors of Nevada County, advocating for local flexibility in reopening while requesting for funding to ensure local municipalities are able to open in a safe and responsible manner.

“In preparing this letter I think it’s so important to send that message to the governor and protect not just our own resources but other community’s resources as well,” said Truckee Vice Mayor Anna Klovstad.


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