HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC MINUTES 03192020 EMERGENCY MEETING1 CITY OF ST. ANTHONY
2 CITY COUNCIL EMERGENCY MEETING MINUTES
3 MARCH 19, 2020
4
5 CALL TO ORDER.
6
7 Mayor Stille called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m.
8
9 PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE.
10
11 Mayor Stille invited the Council and audience to join him in the Pledge of Allegiance.
12
13 ROLL CALL.
14
15 Present: Mayor Stille, Councilmembers Jenson, Randle, Walker and Webster.
16 Absent: None
17 Also Present: City Manager Mark Casey, Public Works Director Jay Hartman.
18 Guests: Fire Chief and Emergency Manager Mark Sitarz, Police Chief John Mangseth.
19
20 CONSIDERATION, DISCUSSION, AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON ALL OF THE FOLLOWING
21 ITEMS.
22
23 I. APPROVAL OF MARCH 17, 2020 CITY COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA.
24
25 Motion by Councilmember Jenson, seconded by Councilmember Webster, to approve the City
26 Council Meeting Agenda of March 19, 2020.
27
28 Motion carried 5-0.
29
30 II. PROCLAMATIONS AND RECOGNITIONS.
31
32 City Manager Casey reviewed with the City Council the reason for the Emergency City Council
33 meeting.
34
35 A. Mayor's Proclamation Declaring a Local Emergency.
36
37 Mayor Stille read and signed the Mayor's Proclamation Declaring a Local Emergency.
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39 III. CONSENT AGENDA — NONE.
40
41 IV. PUBLIC HEARING — NONE.
42
43 V. REPORTS FROM COMMISSION AND STAFF.
44
45 Chief Sitarz indicated he was in complete support of the proclamation and felt this was the right
46 direction for the City to take. He noted the emergency management team plans throughout the
47 year for situations such as this. There is constant communication everyday with staff and City
48 officials. The City has a plan along with working with Ramsey and Hennepin Counties and their
49 health departments as well as the Minnesota Department of Health.
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March 19, 2020
Page 2
1
2 Councilmember Randle asked Chief Sitarz to elaborate on the video received from him regarding
3 the virus.
4
5 Chief Sitarz explained that was a video or several videos in regard to social distancing and
6 showing how things work and how the virus can spread so rapidly along with how it can be
7 slowed down with the cooperation of citizens of Minnesota.
8
9 Mayor Stille believed the video was put out by the Washington Post and could probably be found
10 online. He thought it was a fascinating video.
11
12 Councilmember Webster thanked Chief Sitarz and his staff planning for potential emergencies
13 and she indicated she had full faith in his team.
14
15 Chief Mangseth stated he echoed the comments already made by Chief Sitarz. There are a lot of
16 partnerships and planning that has gone into this challenge being presented. He assured
17 everyone that on a staffing standpoint the Police Department is running at full staff as of now
18 and hoped to continue doing that. Safeguards have been put in place with personnel and how
19 they interact with the public. He publicly thanked the Fire Chief, the City's emergency manager
20 because he and his staff have been doing quite a bit of lifting so all of his staff can serve the
21 community to the best of their ability.
22
23 Councilmember Walker appreciated the video that was put together about social distancing but
24 was curious if that video has spread and if it has helped. Chief Mangseth indicated he does not
25 really know but based on comments posted on Facebook it has been very favorable.
26
27 Councilmember Webster thanked him and his officers and appreciated how the officers always
28 look for way to engage the community in different ways and officer Rushton's video was such a
29 great day brightener for many residents. She knew other officers were looking at ways on how
30 to provide letters and artwork and such produced by families to the members of their senior
31 living facilities.
32
33 Councilmember Jensen thanked Chief Mangseth along with Chief Sitarz and all of their teams
34 that are willing to come to work when many people in society are either working from home or
35 no longer allowed to work. Thank commitment really goes along way and is really appreciated.
36
37 Public Works Director Hartman thought it was important to assure the City Council along with
38 the citizens of St. Anthony Village that the Public Works Department is fully staffed and able to
39 provide all of the necessary services that are normally provided. The essential services that are
40 provided daily will continue to include the operation of the water treatment facility as well as the
41 sanitary sewer system to include lift stations, etc. Internally some adjustments have been made
42 to the daily operations to ensure uninterrupted service to the City's operation and the overall
43 infrastructural needs. The daily needs will be adjusted as necessary or as change is needed. He
44 noted since this emergency there has been a huge run on paper products and not much left on the
45 shelves and he pointed out that the only thing that should go down the toilet is toilet paper, not
City Council Emergency Meeting Minutes
March 19, 2020
Page 3
1 paper towels or body wipes, things of that nature. It does cause problems with the City's life
2 stations and increases the chance of sewer backups as well.
3
4 City Manager Casey announced there will be some changes to the liquor operations. Effective,
5 Saturday, March 21', the Silver Lake Village store will be open from 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
6 Monday through Saturday and closed Sundays. The Market Place store will be temporarily
7 closed until further notice. The City will also continue limiting the presence of no more than
8 twelve customers at a time into the store. This will be maintained as long as possible. He
9 suggested residents to keep track of existing hours by looking on the City web page.
10
11 City Manager Casey indicated the City will not be applying late fees to the first and second
12 quarter of utility billing. City Hall is staffed and will maintain a full staff, but he asked that
13 residents could either email or call if City services are needed. Staff will be very quick and
14 responsive to resident needs and respectfully asked the residents to keep social distancing and
15 maintaining not having person to person contact if possible.
16
17 City Manager Casey stated the entire staff appreciates the City's support and understanding
18 during this time. The staff has done an amazing job and their dedication to the City is definitely
19 evident every day.
20
21 Mayor Stille thanked all of City staff for their hard work during this emergency and if staff needs
22 any additional resources to let the City Council and they will make sure whatever is needed is
23 provided. The City Council will figure out how to provide what is needed.
24
25 VI. GENERAL BUSINESS OF COUNCIL.
26
27 A. Resolution 20-030; a Resolution Extending Period of Local Emergency.
28
29 City Manager Casey reviewed the resolution with the Council.
30
31 Motion by Councilmember Webster, seconded by Councilmember Jenson, to approve Resolution
32 20-030; a Resolution to Extend Period of Local Emergency.
33
34 Motion carried 5-0.
35
36 B. Resolution 20-031; a Resolution to Make Expenditures During a Local Emergency.
37
38 City Manager Casey reviewed the resolution with the Council.
39
40 Motion by Councilmember Jenson, seconded by Councilmember Walker, to approve Resolution
41 20-031; a Resolution to Make Expenditures During a Local Emergency.
42
43 Motion carried 5-0.
44
45 Mayor Stille asked if there are any immediate items on the March 24th City Council agenda that
46 cannot be postponed until the following meeting. City Manage Casey indicated he did not
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March 19, 2020
Page 4
1 believe there were any items that could not be postponed until the April 14th meeting. Mayor
2 Stille thought the City Council should cancel the March 24th meeting if the Council agrees with
3 him.
4
5 Motion by Councilmember Jenson, seconded by Councilmember Walker, to cancel the March
6 24, 2020 City Council meeting and move the agenda items to the April 14, 2020 City Council
7 meeting.
8
9 Motion carried 5-0.
10
11 VII. REPORTS FROM CITY MANAGER AND COUNCIL MEMBERS.
12
13 Mayor Stille asked for an update from Councilmember Webster on how the Community Services
14 Department has been fairing over the last couple of weeks.
15
16 Councilmember Webster indicated that this week the School District is on Spring Break and the
17 Governor did choose to close Minnesota Schools from March 18th through March 27th for the
18 purpose of planning for distance learning to begin on March 30th. What that looks like for the
19 School District as a whole, starting Monday, March 23rd, when all of the staff return back from
20 Spring Break an all staff meeting will be hosted with some virtual and some of it in enlarged
21 space in order to follow social distancing rules. This meeting will be to help staff understand
22 what the week of planning will look like starting March 30th when distance learning begins and
23 what that will look like as well.
24
25 Councilmember Webster explained also starting March 23rd, families did receive an email earlier
26 in the day that they have to also start providing daily food deliveries. There will be four drop
27 sites in which families can go and pick up food delivery every day. She explained Community
28 Services effectively shut down its operations on Tuesday, March 17th and starting Wednesday,
29 March 18th they opened emergency childcare for first responders and health care professionals in
30 the community. For children 12 and younger, if the resident is a first responder or health care
31 professional please give them a call -in order to get set up for child care which is every day from
32 6:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and includes breakfast, lunch and a snack and is
33 staffed by the Village Kids staff this week.
34
35 Councilmember Webster stated something else residents can look forward to is they are looking
36 at ways in which they can deliver some community outreach. Look for staff making phone calls
37 to residents because they want to check in with community members at this time and know that
38 spending a lot of time in homes alone can be difficult with regards to social isolation and they
39 want to reach out to get people the resources that they may need.
40
41 Councilmember Webster reminded residents that if healthy to please give blood. That is
42 something that is needed at this time.
43
44 Councilmember Jenson stated last week on March 13th he attended the Ramsey County Local
45 League of Governments and they had a guest speaker, Charlie Zelly and he talked about high
City Council Emergency Meeting Minutes
March 19, 2020
Page 5
1 density housing, safety on light rail and focus on improvement of regional efficiency and
2 infrastructure accountability.
3
4 Mayor Stille stated he wanted to impress on the community all of the hard-working people
5 delivering the City services and something that can be expected and is going to be continued.
6 The preparation has been done and continue to train. Staff does appreciate the residents
7 understanding and thought it was important to draw together as a community and try to be
8 creatively safe. Social distancing and taking head on what official department are
9 recommending.
10
11 VIII. COMMUNITY FORUM.
12
13 Mayor Stille invited residents to come forward at this time and address the Council on items that
14 are not on the regular agenda.
15
16 Hearing none, Mayor Stille moved forward with the agenda.
17
18 IX. INFORMATION AND ANNOUNCEMENTS.
19
20 None.
21
22 X. ADJOURNMENT.
23
24 Mayor Stille adjourned the meeting at 6:01 p.m.
25
26
27 Respectfully submitted,
28 Sue Osbeck
29 TimeSaver Off Site Secretarial, Inc.
30
31
32 ATTEST: ,Gail/' • �G
33 City C erk