The Logan City Council will hold a public hearing on Logan’s controversial mask mandate at 5:30 p.m. on Aug. 18.
LOGAN – The Logan City Council will hold a public hearing on Aug. 18 before voting on whether to extend the city’s mandatory mask mandate until Dec. 31.
Council chair Amy Z. Anderson said the public hearing is scheduled as part of the council’s regular bi-weekly meeting starting at 5:30 p.m. in the Logan Municipal Council Chambers located at 290 North 100 West in Logan.
Anderson reminded area residents planning to attend the hearing that the seating capacity of the council chamber is limited, although two overflow areas are available.
The length of time allotted for each individual’s comments during the hearing will be dependent on the number of people signing up to speak. While attendance at the council meeting is open to anyone, Anderson warned that Logan residents will be given priority in making comments about the mask mandate.
Anyone entering the Logan City Hall must wear a face covering and practice social distancing.
Mayor Holly Daines imposed the mask mandate on Logan residents and visitors Aug. 1 with a 30-day emergency declaration and then requested that members of the City Council extend that order through the end of the year.
Although City Attorney Kimber Housley advised that the city was not legally required to seek public comment on the mask mandate, Anderson said that the decision to hold the Aug. 18 public hearing was made in coordination with all members of the council.
In the meantime, the public is encouraged to email any questions or comments in advance to teresa.harris@loganutah.org as council members gather information for their deliberations.
The mask mandate has been controversial because Daines provided limited public notice before requesting state authorization to impose the emergency measure. Some residents have also voiced concern that the mayor’s executive order included stipulations that the mask mandate can be enforced either “administratively or criminally … for repeated or egregious violations.”
Daines’ executive order applies to any individual over age five who is medically or psychologically able to tolerate a face covering.
The city ordinance stipulates that a face covering that completely covers the nose and mouth must be worn in “public areas where consistent social distancing of at least six feet is not possible, reasonable or prudent.”
With that order, Logan has joined a handful of other local entities in Utah that have made the wearing of face coverings in public mandatory. Those entities are Salt Lake City and three Utah counties: Grand, Salt Lake and Summit.