City of Imperial votes to reopen businesses

IMPERIAL, Calif. (KYMA, KECY), In a 5-0 vote the City of Imperial has passed a resolution to deem all businesses essential and allow them to reopen.

The decision goes against county and state orders. Imperial County remains in stage one and is currently on the governor's watch list.

By reopening the city of Imperial faces county and state repercussions including $245,794 in Cares Act funding for coronavirus relief.

All businesses including restaurants, gyms, and hair salons will be able to open up following social distancing and health guidelines from the state of California.

All five board members were in agreement that they could no longer wait for the county’s timeline to reopen.

The mayor of Imperial asked all business owners to open up with caution and said he believes local businesses can take care of their customers better than big-box chain stores.

“We don't believe stage four businesses need to wait four more months to reopen. They can't do it anymore. We believe that we should be able to move right now with commonsense precautions. How do we know it's common sense because they came from public health. It’s the plans they said we must follow to be safe in our operation," said Darrell Pechtl, Imperial Mayor.

By reopening the city of Imperial faces county and state repercussions including $245,794 in Cares Act funding for coronavirus relief.