03-30-2020 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO EMERGENCY CITY COUNCIL MEETING Wednesday, March 18, 2020 3:30 o'clock p.m. Rief noted the Background has been discussed. The City's goal is to continue operations and provide high quality public services to residents while taking necessary precautions to limit resident and staff exposure during the COVID-19 outbreak. He discussed the Response, which includes a total of 6 levels of operations, and said the City was at Level 2 on Monday morning. After the Governor's message Tuesday night, the City moved to Level 3: no in-person meetings; City Hall and Police doors locked; drop tables and signage in place; all Staff at work; limited contact by Police, Building Inspections, and Public Works. The City is working through the process for the potential of getting to Level 4: no in-person meetings; City Hall closed; mission -essential Staff at work, some Staff work from home; remote Council Meetings; limited contact by Police, Building Inspections, and Public Works. If the City needs to go to Level 5, the protocol is: City Hall and all offices closed; mission -essential personnel only; Police and Public Works emergency contacts only; Public Works employees work on-call, two at a time, unless a larger emergency arises like a water main break or snowfall. He said the City will operate at Level 3 or as long as possible and is working on the resources to move to a more remote -type work setting. As resources for remote work become available for more Staff, they will be moved, but one person from each department will be in-house. He stated he used information from OSHA regarding Control and Prevention regarding interim guidance for employees, how they interact and their potential exposures, and how to address those exposures. He discussed the plans for Employee Staffing and Finances. He said the Emergency Declaration gives help to businesses related to unemployment. Walsh asked if businesses would apply for that help through the City. Rief said the resources are being fed to the City, and as they become available, there is an alert on the City webpage with resource information. The information will also be sent to anyone who signed up for any kind of an alert from the City. He encouraged people to sign up for alerts so they get them via email as the webpage is updated, which is changing continually. Walsh mentioned changes are occurring almost on an hourly basis. He also encouraged everyone to sign up at the City's website. Johnson asked if the City needs to provide resources to respond to unemployment for small businesses. Rief clarified that the City does not provide the resources; the City is providing access to the resources. Walsh asked City Attorney Mattick to comment, given his knowledge. Mattick said there is a debate about when cities should declare a Declaration of Emergency. He felt the City of Orono made a wise decision because it may free up some reimbursements later on. With the Emergency Declaration, if there is a needed expense in an emergency situation, the City Administrator and Staff can make that decision in real-time rather than a 1 -2 -week turnaround period. He noted the plan put together by Rief is consistent with what he has seen in other communities. He said most communities have preparedness as it relates to natural disasters such as storms, but what has been challenging is providing a service while distancing yourself from the people you are providing the service to. The plan does a nice job of ensuring continuity of services while protecting employees. He reminded everyone the plan was put together in 1-2 days and is a starting point. The plan may change as information changes, or the City may be working off -script sometimes. Page 3 of 8