MOUNT VERNON – After a week of confusion regarding whether or not lawn care businesses would be able to operate in Knox County amid the coronavirus outbreak, the matter has been settled.
Knox County Health Commissioner Julie Miller announced Sunday that lawn care businesses are permitted to stay open. But not all services have been deemed ‘essential.’
Miller sent a letter to lawn care business owners in Knox County on Sunday night detailing which services would be deemed ‘essential’ – and, thus, allowed – and which would be deemed ‘non-essential’ – or prohibited.
Miller and county prosecutor Chip McConville (the health department’s legal counsel) crafted the guidelines last weekend after discussing the matter with members of the Ohio Department of Health’s legal team.
The state has maintained that local health departments would be charged with interpreting and enforcing the stay-at-home order, which went into effect March 23 and will expire May 1. It includes specific health guidelines that essential businesses must follow.
In her letter to local lawn care business owners, Miller stated:
“All lawn care businesses must abide by the physical distancing and disinfecting requirements as stated in Governor DeWine’s Stay at Home order.
“Lawn care businesses may mow commercial and residential properties and may maintain or provide landscaping services of commercial properties however, should refrain from landscaping of residential properties which is considered non-essential.”
When asked to further clarify what differentiates “essential” vs. “non-essential” lawn care services, Miller said it comes down to necessity. If the service is necessary from a public health standpoint, it will qualify as “essential.” Everything else will have to wait.
“I talked with a couple of (local lawn care business owners) because I wanted to get some opinions from some guys I knew in the area,” Miller said. “It was a matter of mulching a residence is non-essential, but mowing is.”
Knox Public Health may conduct random inspections of local lawn care businesses to make sure they are following the requirements set forth in the stay-at-home order, Miller said. Local lawn care business owners are encouraged to call the health department (740-392-2200) if they have questions about which services are essential, and/or how to interpret the order.
The relationship between lawn care and public health
Like many public health officials, Miller believes certain elements of lawn care are essential to maintaining public health. That’s why she felt uneasy about ordering all lawn care businesses closed last Friday, following a conference call where she said the ODH legal team advised local health commissioners to do so.
“That one I didn’t like, the fact that it’s going to be more of a public health nuisance if we don’t have it,” she said. “I flat out told ODH, I’m gonna open them, I don’t care.
“I’m worried about this becoming a public health issue.”
Miller mentioned one local lawn care business, which mows the grass at Trillium Farms in Croton. Trillium Farms is one of the nation’s leading egg producers, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture requires it to be mowed regularly for health reasons, Miller said. Ordering lawn care businesses closed would prevent that from happening.
Proper lawn care can also cut down hospitalizations, which could benefit the local healthcare system in the stressful weeks ahead. Andrew Muntz, president of the Ohio Turfgrass Foundation, called the management of lawn care “essential to public health on numerous fronts.”
“First and foremost, we are about to see lawns emerge from their winter slumber. Tall grass is one of the primary homes for problematic insects such as ticks. It’s been well documented in the literature and in university studies, that one of the best ways to control ticks is through mowing the grass,” Muntz said in a statement. “Our medical community will have enough challenges on their plate in the upcoming weeks, that they do not need to be worrying about excessive insect bites.”
Lawn care businesses also help control noxious weeds and reduce allergens in the spring.
“All of this can be done by a single person, completely socially distanced from the rest of society,” Muntz noted. “Other environmental services provided by properly managed turfgrass include oxygen creation, carbon sequestration, area for recreation, fire hazard reduction, erosion control, water filtration, and more.”
After a week of confusion, clarity
The same day Miller received advice from ODH’s legal team to close lawn care businesses, ODH Press Secretary Melanie Amato offered a more hands-off approach:
“Lawn care businesses is up to the owner,” she told Knox Pages on Friday. “If they have small-man crews and practice social distancing then that is OK.”
This wasn’t the first time communication issues clouded how local health departments should interpret the state’s order.
The ODH told local health commissioners in the same conference call last Friday that golf courses would be ordered closed as a public health precaution. One day later, the state changed its mind.
“I apologize for the confusion that Governor DeWine’s ‘Stay at Home’ order has caused for you and your customers,” Miller wrote in a letter to golf course owners on Sunday. “Knox Public Health has also been confused by the mixed messaging coming from the Ohio Department of Health and the Governor himself.”
Both golf courses and lawn care businesses fell into the gray area between “non-essential” and “essential” in the stay-at-home order. Neither were given a definition. Because the state has charged local health departments with interpreting and enforcing the order, confusion arose about what should be done.
The ODH clarified its stance on Sunday, when its legal team said on a conference call with health commissioners that certain facets of the lawn care industry could be deemed essential at the local level. The state offered similar clarity regarding golf courses, allowing them to remain open as long as they comply with state-ordered health standards.
Miller and McConville drafted a local interpretation of the order and sent it to business owners that night.
Miller asked the public to be patient with state and local health departments as they make major decisions amid the coronavirus outbreak. She called the situation “fluid” and noted that it’s a new experience for many in leadership.
“I think they’ve been doing excellent on communication,” Miller said of ODH. “They’re doing the best they can with what they’ve got and they’re moving on to the next thing. We’re all learning.”
