Mayor Hollie Cost announced that she had declared a state of emergency in the City of Montevallo. Mayor Cost discussed this measure during an emergency meeting of the Montevallo City Council on March 17. 

“In communities it is important that there is an authority to take action,” said Cost regarding her decision. 

The mayor also noted that the City’s emergency declaration will stay in effect in the entire duration of the State of Alabama’s declaration, which does not have an expiration date attached to it.

Montevallo City Clerk Herman Lehman explained during an emergency City Council meeting that the emergency declaration allows the mayor to act quickly to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic in Montevallo.

Lehman elaborated that this declaration allows the Mayor to make quick decisions related to responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, while not having to bring the City Council together.

Cost assured council members during the meeting that she would continue to inform them about actions taken to contain the virus in the community.

“As of this point, we have not had anyone who has contracted COVID-19 in our community, but we have to assume there are people in our community with COVID-19,” said Cost during the emergency city council meeting. The mayor went on to say that she knows of at least two Montevallo citizens who are awaiting results from tests.

Shelby County, and other counties that surround Jefferson County were targeted by the Alabama Department of Public Health by a declaration on March 17 that forced restaurants and bars to resort to curbside delivery. The declaration also closed senior centers and suspended gatherings of 25 people or more.

The mayor urged citizens to purchase goods locally to support businesses in town instead of purchasing them online. Cost also emphasized that the restaurants in the area are likely to be most hit economically by this outbreak.

During the meeting Cost announced that the water board will not be disconnecting any service during this time.