The Carbon County Commissioners on Thursday commended the county employees for going above and beyond during the pandemic.

During the commissioners’ weekly meeting, which was held via Zoom and also livestreamed on Facebook, the board shared their gratitude for what the employees have done to make sure county government continues to operate - even as 113 of the 403 employees needed to be tested for COVID-19 with 24 of them testing positive.

Commissioners’ Chairman Wayne Nothstein couldn’t say enough about the employees’ dedication.

“Many people have stepped up to the plate to ensure county government continues to operate,” Nothstein said. “Thank you to the employees who kept coming in day after day. … It shows how valuable our employees are at times, especially in our time of need such as this one, and I thank them from the bottom of our hearts.”

Commissioner Chris Lukasevich highlighted some employees, including Warden Timothy Fritz and the prison staff, Lisa Dart in the elections office, David Horvath and the staff at Mauch Chunk Lake Park, Rhonda Wenrich and the COVID-19 Block Grant administration team and Dawn Bowman and Lisa Marks in Human Resources, who went above and beyond in their departments.

Carbon County has closed its buildings to the public in the hopes of slowing the spread of the virus and keeping the employees safe.

Some employees have worked from home, while others continue to maintain the office operations.

Court operation

Greg Armstrong, court administrator, announced that the courts are open for limited services and is currently working out the details on what will be offered this month and in January.

The pandemic has created a significant backlog of cases, the commissioners said previously.

Armstrong said that the jury trial schedule has already been canceled and he anticipates the January trial schedule will also be canceled.

The commissioners are also still looking into alternative sites to hold court operations that would allow for adequate social distancing.

Commissioner Rocky Ahner said the county hit “a couple snags” with regards to a site on Iron Street in Lehighton that the county was going to rent to hold trials.

He added that the county is still looking at that site, but officials are also looking at other locations as well.

Lukasevich said that this is due to officials reassessing and re-evaluating the needs to meet the current requirements of the courts since trials are not being held at this time.

Carbon County offices in all buildings remain open for operation and are accessible via email or by phone during business hours.