— from Lisa Byers for OPAL —
Governor Inslee’s Stay Home, Stay Healthy Order identified certain essential activities that are allowed to continue while most of us stay home. The construction of affordable housing is one of those essential activities.
Therefore, construction of April’s Grove will continue as long as suppliers continue to deliver. The crews working on site have adopted new protocols to keep workers safe and healthy in accordance with L&I guidelines on COVID-19.
Please be kind and support these workers as they build much needed housing to our community.
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So the construction of the April Grove complex is so important right now that the work should continue even if it means a couple dozen off island workers come on to the island ever day or every week drastically increasing the chance of bringing the virus from the mainland infecting the island worse than it is? Have the guys stay home. A delay of a month or so for this housing project getting done won’t make that much difference in the number of places to live but it could save a number of lives. If a few dozen or hundreds of island people die from the virus, the housing need in the complex may be a lot less. The virus cases in the United States alone has grown from 46,000 to 142,000 in the last 5 days. Washington has 189 deaths now and growing. Please shut it down and make them “stay at home” for a while like the whole state is suppose to do!
I am grateful to Gov Inslee for recognizing that decent & affordable housing is a dire need in our state and, as we all know, especially so on our islands. Following covid-19 protocols while working to get our fellow islanders in safe, decent housing seems critical right now and a healthcare issue in its own right. And thank you OPAL for persevering in these trying times.
Under normal circumstances I would say few things rate as important as affordable housing on Orcas, but these aren’t normal circumstances.
This situation would seem to be a nearly perfect vector, with potential to distribute infection throughout the community via interaction with our grocers and food services. Is pushing a pre-Covid timetable really worth the lives of your neighbors and friends?