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Luzerne County receives air flow report on courthouse meeting room

Times Leader - 6/27/2020

Jun. 27--The air flow in the Luzerne County Council meeting room at the courthouse in Wilkes-Barre meets Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines with up to 14 people inside, the county administration said Friday.

Council requested an airflow rate analysis to determine if in-person council meetings can resume there in July.

The administration considered retaining an outside consultant but determined it had the in-house data and expertise to perform the analysis, which was completed by county Operational Services Division Head Edmund O'Neill and boiler plant mechanical systems engineer Robert Dudick.

A council majority voted this week to hold the next meeting on July 14 at the courthouse, but only if the council meeting room is deemed to have safe air circulation and all CDC guidelines are followed, including social distancing, temperature checks to gain entry and a requirement to wear masks.

But only 14 people can be in the meeting room at the same time under CDC protocols based on measurements by the county engineering department, council Chairman Tim McGinley has said. Each person must be spaced six feet apart, and the width of each person also must be factored in, he said.

The meeting format is still under consideration because the social distancing limitations would not leave room inside for citizens, the media and county managers or outside entities required to participate due to meeting agenda submissions, McGinley said Friday.

Most of the available slots would be occupied by the 11-member council, council clerk, solicitor and county manager, he said. A sheriff's deputy also provides security at meetings.

Pre-coronavirus, council set up a viewing area in the lobby outside the meeting room to accommodate overflow, but that was when the room was able to hold about 50 people, McGinley said. This lobby area also would now have to conform to social distancing requirements, he said.

Councilwoman Sheila Saidman has said she would only attend by phone until the coronavirus threat has passed because she is at risk and unwilling to unnecessarily endanger her life.

Now that the air flow report has been completed, McGinley said he will continue to seek feedback from his colleagues on how they want to proceed.

McGinley said he will personally not support any plan that is counterproductive or puts anyone unnecessarily at risk.

"Consideration of people's health is the most important. I won't jeopardize the health of anyone," he said.

O'Neill's report said the council meeting room should circulate 70 cubic feet of outside air per minute based on the guidelines and a maximum 14-person capacity. With current control settings, the room is averaging 130 cubic feet per minute, it said.

"In addition, CDC guidelines for the number of air changes per hour (number of times the airflow output equals total air volume in the room per hour) in most areas of health-care facilities is two while we are currently changing air just over three times per hour," O'Neill wrote.

Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.

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