WATERTOWN, S.D. (KELO.com) — Watertown Mayor Sarah Caron says her mayoral colleagues in South Dakota are not on the same page when it comes to closing businesses during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Watertown City Council unanimously passed a resolution allowint Caron to close non-essential businesses without city council approval if conditions warrant.
Caron called the decision delicate.
“If we close the businesses, the financial impacts to families who lose their homes, can’t put food on the table, are tremendous,” Caron said. “We can expect to see a rise in suicide and other side effects that we don’t want.”
The Sioux Falls City Council is expected to address the issue at its meeting Tuesday afternoon. The Rapid City Council is considering an ordinance closing for places “with public consumption” or “on site gathering” to close to on site patrons.
“It’s just not necessarily the right thing to do,” Caron said. “I want to hear what the other mayors are grappling with. We can find communities that are on both sides of this.”
All city buildings in Watertown are closed to the public. South Dakota has 28 coronavirus cases in all.
(Mike Tanner, KWAT, Anson Mareus, Kelo.com News, and Gary Matthews, KBHB, contributed to this report.)
