Title
Reaffirming the City Council's regular meeting schedule during the Covid-19 pandemic emergency.
Body
WHEREAS, on March 13, 2020, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz issued Executive Order 20-01, “Declaring a Peacetime Emergency and Coordinating Minnesota’s Strategy to Protect Minnesotans from COVID-19,” declaring a peacetime emergency under Minn. Stat. § 12.31, subd. 2, that emergency has been renewed and remains in place; and
WHEREAS, on March 15, 2020, Mayor Melvin Carter issued an emergency declaration, directing City departments to review operations and legal proceedings to determine whether any such operations or proceedings need adjusted or suspended, among other directions; and
WHEREAS, on March 17, 2020, the Saint Paul City Council extended the emergency declaration for ninety (90) days until June 15, 2020, that emergency has been renewed and remains in place; and
WHEREAS, the City Council provides critical services to the City, including passing emergency ordinances, and authorizing emergency contracts; and
WHEREAS, presently, and prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the City Council conducted regular meetings in-person, pursuant to a regular meeting schedule on file at the Council’s primary office; and
WHEREAS, Minn. Stat. § 13D.021 permits open meetings to be conducted through telephone or other electronic means if (1) the presiding officer for the governing body finds it not practical or prudent to meet in person or hold a meeting conducted under section 13D.02 because of a health pandemic or an emergency declared under Minn. Stat. Ch. 12; (2) all members of the body participating in the meeting, wherever their physical location, can hear one another and hear all testimony and discussion; (3) members of the public present at the regular meeting location can hear all discussion, testimony, and votes of the public body, unless attendance at the meeting is not feasible due to health pandemic or emergency declaration; and (4) all votes of the body are conducted by roll call so each member’s vote can be identified and recorded; and
WHEREAS, the Center for Disease Control has labeled COVID-19 as a pandemic illness; and
WHEREAS, COVID-19 poses a risk to the health, welfare, and safety of the public; and
WHEREAS, the Minnesota Department of Health has issued guidelines and recommendations to slow the spread of COVID-19 that include limiting social interaction; and
WHEREAS, Council President Brendmoen has found it not practical or prudent to hold the Council’s meetings in-person because of the pandemic and public health emergency; and
WHEREAS, for the duration of the City’s local emergency, Council President Brendmoen and the City Council finds that public attendance at the regularly scheduled meeting location is not feasible due to the health pandemic and public health emergency and the Council will not have any member, counsel, or administrator present at the regular meeting location; and
WHEREAS, the Council finds it necessary to set a new regular meeting schedule to reflect that all meetings during the local emergency will be held by telephone or other electronic means; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, that
1. The Council sets the following new regular meeting schedule, which will be held via telephone or other electronic means: on meetings on Wednesdays as provided by the City Charter at 3:30 p.m.
2. The public may comment on public hearing items in writing or via voicemail. Any comments and materials submitted by 12:00 pm of the day before the meeting will be attached to the public record and available for review by the City Council. Comments may be submitted as follows:
Written public comment on public hearing items can be submitted to Contact-Council@ci.stpaul.mn.us <mailto:Contact-Council@ci.stpaul.mn.us> or by voicemail at 651-266-6805.
3. That the new regular meeting schedule shall be in effect until this resolution has been rescinded or the end of the emergency declaration by Mayor Carter has expired and not renewed, whichever occurs first; and
That upon adoption of this resolution, the regular meeting schedule will be kept on file at the City Council’s primary office.