Board Chairman Shaun Gillilland said Monday that the county didn’t want to add to the problem as employees travel to Elizabethtown to work at the government center from all over the county.

“And a lot of our employees are members of rescue squads, fire departments and things, which we expect could be a need,” he said. “It’s just like if we had snowstorm, those people would need to be called in because of issues, so essential personnel would still be available. We just wanted to reduce congestion and follow the State Police’s request to have local people not adding to the problem on the roads.”

The state of emergency was issued as a precaution just in case something goes wrong on April 8. Essex County’s emergency operations center is planning to be in full operation during the solar eclipse, according to Gillilland.

“So if we have to issue orders to keep people off the road or clear or close roads … it could be done under the state of emergency,” Gillilland said. “If there was some sort of an issue that we needed a lot of help with — stranded people in the woods somewhere and things like that, it kind of smooths up the decision process as you go forward.”

Essex County is following other municipalities in New York that have issued states of emergency ahead of the solar eclipse, such as Oswego and Wayne counties. Jefferson County is expected to declare a state of emergency on Friday, according to News7 WWNY-TV. Niagara Falls, Ontario, also declared a state of emergency ahead of the event.

The state of emergency in Essex County begins at 9 a.m. Saturday, April 6 and ends 9 a.m. Wednesday, April 10.

Members of the Franklin County Board of Legislature are expected to discuss the solar eclipse at their meeting Thursday morning, according to District 6 Legislator Nedd Sparks, of Tupper Lake. He said Tuesday that he’s not sure whether the discussion will include a proposal to shut down the county government in Malone or issue a precautionary state of emergency. All of Franklin County is in the path of totality for the April 8 solar eclipse, and villages in the southern part of the county — such as Tupper Lake and Saranac Lake — are bracing for thousands of visitors to watch the event.

Board Chairman Ed Lockwood and District 7 Legislator Lindy Ellis, of Saranac Lake, did not return calls by press time for this report.