Patton Township puts indoor masking requirement back in place. Here’s what to know

Wearing a face mask while inside of a building open to the public within Patton Township is now required under an ordinance supervisors passed during Wednesday’s special meeting. The ordinance’s intent is to reduce infection rates and minimize the spread of COVID-19.

The ordinance was passed unanimously by the Patton Township supervisors and is effective immediately. It requires a mask be worn in buildings that are open to the public, including grocery and retail stores, government buildings and medical facilities. It also requires a mask be worn while using public transit, rideshare or when in a vehicle with others who are not part of your household, or when unable to consistently physically distance from others (not part of your household) whether inside or outside.

The ordinance requires businesses to post signs at their entrances that masks are required in the building.

Exemptions for face coverings include medical and religious exemptions, while in your home or outside with members of your household, employees working alone and while eating at a restaurant.

It will stay in effect until the COVID transmission rate for Centre County drops below the substantial spread threshold, as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, meaning fewer than 50 weekly COVID cases per 100,000 residents. With data available as of Thursday, the CDC lists Centre County as having 1,138.04 cases per 100,000 residents over the previous seven days.

The supervisors could still vote to repeal the ordinance before that happens. The original draft ordinance had a specific date, but supervisors opted to change that during the meeting. This is similar to the State College Borough’s masking ordinance, which outlines the same endpoint.

“I agree with that idea, I think it’s good. And, I mean, the number (of cases) that we have right now is kind of sickening,” Supervisor Elliot Abrams said of the change.

Patton Township and State College are the only municipalities in Centre County with an indoor mask requirement, and Penn State has a mandatory masking indoors policy.

Township manager Doug Erickson said the township received 80-90 written comments about the ordinance before supervisors voted on it Wednesday.

“This board has reviewed each and every email — pros and cons — and I’m looking at it as far as, we’ve gotten reports from the Postal Service that their postal delivery carriers have come down with COVID. So a lot of the area have not received their mail. And as a veteran, I can tell you, some of the veterans receive their medical prescriptions through the mail. And if we don’t take this seriously and help prevent or slow this down through just wearing a mask ... ” Chair Pamela Robb said.

The ordinance states any person, property owner, in the case of an owner-occupied property, or the tenants of a rental property, or business found to have violated the ordinance can be fined $100. Patton Township may also charge the violator for court costs and reasonable attorney fees incurred by the township in the enforcement proceedings, it states. Each day of a continuing violation will be considered a separate and distinct offense.

Patton Township Police Chief Tyler Jolley said when the township previously had a mask requirement, if they received a call about someone not complying, they would have an officer investigate the report. If it’s found that someone failed to use a mask, they would contact that person and advise them of the ordinance.

“So we kind of used it more as an educational piece to encourage them to comply with the ordinance to let them know that we do have an ordinance here in the township and generally we got cooperation from them,” Jolley said. Still, he was concerned about the situation “snowballing out of control.”