Agenda - Council - 04/14/2020 - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Administrator Ulrich stated that Deputy City Administrator Gladhill has been a great resource for remote work and remote meeting attendance. He provided an update on the social distancing and sanitizing efforts. He asked if the Council would support canceling room reservations for ten or more people. The Council confirmed consensus with that direction. City Administrator Ulrich noted the less people coming into City Hall, the better. He provided an update on the procedures that have been implemented by the License Center and other areas of City Hall. He discussed other potential elements that could be implemented in regard to employee leave and potential use of sick time. He also provided an update on upcoming events that have been canceled or are being rescheduled. He reviewed the remote attendance policy of the City, which is preempted by the State declaration of emergency, noting that phone and electronic participation is available for meetings. Councilmember Heinrich asked what the plan is in terms of communicating to the community. City Administrator Ulrich stated that the City has not issued anything as of yet, because there were not guidelines in place. He stated that he will work to develop a Facebook message based on this discussion. He asked for input on the reservation of park facilities for groups of ten people or larger. Fire Chief Kohner stated that the strategies discussed thus far are in an attempt to be proactive. He stated that the bar has been set for social gatherings and the City should follow it, therefore he would support canceling the reservations for at least the next two -week period. Councilmember Riley stated that the direction has already been provided from the President and Governor and therefore the City is only following that direction. Councilmember Menth asked if the parks would be closed or whether gatherings would be limited to ten people. It was confirmed that the limitation would apply to rental of park buildings for ten people or more for the next two weeks and the parks themselves would remain open. City Administrator Ulrich confirmed that the Council would provide he and Deputy City Administrator Gladhill some discretion on the day to day operations at City Hall as things continue to evolve. He stated that under the Emergency Management Plan the Fire Chief is identified as the communications representative with the Police Chief as the second, followed by the Mayor. Mayor LeTourneau stated that it seems that a large force of the recent actions is driven by anxiety and fear of the unknown. He stated that it seems that people listen when the President or Governor come on with updates. He stated that perhaps it would be helpful for the City to develop some short messaging to comfort residents and provide updates that could be played on City Council Work Session / March 16, 2020 Page 10 of 12