Sidney currently not considering mask mandate

SIDNEY, NE — As towns across Nebraska implement local mask mandates, a town in the panhandle is holding off.

The City of Sidney currently has no plans in place for a mask mandate, but city officials are keeping an eye on what other towns are doing.

City manager David Scott says in case a time does arise where Sidney were to consider a mandate, they want to know how other cities across the state have gone about the process.

"Whether you do it or not you kind of want to know what the process would be with something like that," Scott said. "It's important to lay that out and I think that's where we are right now. Just kind of looking at if that were to ever become an option or something the council or public would want us to do, we need to certainly know what the process is. That's what we're looking at right now."

Scott says a pair of city council members have inquired about what the process would look like for Sidney. So far, the council has not formally discussed their opinions on the matter in a public meeting. As of now, they have no plans to consider implementing a mandate.

At Tuesday's meeting only one of the four members of the council present in the  chambers, Bob Olsen, wore a mask during the meeting. Councilman Burke Radcliffe attended via zoom due to being in COVID-19 quarantine. Scott did wear a mask while not speaking.