Mount Prospect mayor given authority to declare state of emergency

Mount Prospect village board members on Tuesday authorized Mayor Arlene Juracek to declare a state of emergency.

Juracek said it would only be used after consulting the village manager, the village attorney and department heads.

"What's important about this is that it allows us to begin to accumulate our costs and any other resources that we are expending in addressing the COVID issue and it allows us then to work with the state and federal entities to get reimbursement for those things," Juracek said.

She said it isn't something the village does often, recalling that former Mayor Irvana Wilks declared a state of emergency during a time of severe flooding.

In addition, the ordinance passed Tuesday gives the village manager or designees the authority to authorize contracts for emergency purposes without public advertisement.