During a special meeting via teleconference Friday, the Porter County Board of Commissioners passed a declaration of emergency response outlining the county’s response thus far to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Measures include everything from closing county venues like the Porter County Expo Center and the Memorial Opera House earlier this month to an order for county employees to work from home when possible and granting 10 days of emergency personal time off for employees who require the time because of health or child care issues.

The declaration, county attorney Scott McClure said after the meeting, enumerates all of the steps taken by the commissioners and the county council when, for logistical reasons during an ever-changing situation, those bodies weren’t able to schedule meetings.

“I just wanted to get all of that onto a document, and it also enumerates how we’re keeping track of it,” McClure said of the document, which provides a timeline from March 6, when Gov. Eric Holcomb declared a public health emergency, through April 6, the tentative end of Holcomb’s stay at home directive.

The declaration also offers insight into the county’s efforts if money from a federal stimulus package becomes available, McClure said, and standardizes the emergency personal time off for the Auditor’s Office, so that office has a mechanism for tallying those hours when they’re used.

“It’s not land-breaking, to any stretch of the imagination,” McClure said. “It’s just a weird time.”

Amy Lavalley is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.