BUFFALO, N.Y. — Unrecognizable streets, hundreds stranded and nearly 50 lives lost: these are the consequences Erie County is looking to never repeat.
To do so, County Executive Mark Poloncarz announced Thursday the implementation of an online portal for essential businesses when the county declares a state of emergency.
Businesses who feel their workers fall under the county’s definition of “essential” will have the chance to apply for an exemption to any travel bans through the county’s website.
The county also released a three-tier classification system in which every business will be classified. Those like police, fire departments, utilities and healthcare workers would be considered Tier 1 businesses and are always exempt without needing to apply. However, workers like grocery store clerks, gas station operators and those who work in financial data processing would fall in Tiers 2 and 3 and could be considered essential only if they apply.
Those that are approved will be given badges to hand out to their employees showing they are essential workers.
The county said this will give businesses a voice as well to make a case for why they may need to operate in these extreme situations.
"This is the problem: When we issue a travel ban, we often have many people on the roads who are not responding to the emergency,” Poloncarz said. “We need everyone to do their part, and for many people, your part is just staying at home.”
12 people died in the December blizzard as a result of not being able to be reached by first responders. Four died in their cars.
Given how difficult the circumstances were last year and the issues of enforcing a travel ban that came with them, 2 On Your Side asked the county executive how he plans to enforce the portal this time around.
“It's a Class B misdemeanor, and it can be subject to up to a $500 fine, and theoretically, jail time,” he said.
Ben Zieziula is the owner of Next Gen Enterprises, a private snow plowing company, and was on the front lines of last year’s Christmas blizzard.
According to the county, his business would fall into Tier 2, meaning he would have to apply to be considered an essential worker.
He says he understands the need to keep nonessential drivers off the roads, but he wishes he didn’t have to deal with it.
“It's just another headache that we have to go through,” he said. “We work for a lot of doctors and nurses that need to get out of their driveway as well, so it's pretty essential that we can do our job.”
To apply, go to www3.erie.gov/dhses/.