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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.special.20200313 1 REGULAR MEETING ASPEN CITY COUNCIL MARCH 13TH, 2020 At 3:00 p.m. Mayor Torre called the regular meeting to order with Councilmembers Richards, Mesirow, Mullins and Hauenstein present. Mayor Torre read a release from city council. He said we care about everyone in this unprecedented time in Aspen, the country and in the modern world. We are facing challenges never faced before and must keep level heads, take proactive measures and have compassion. We have declared a state of emergency, so that we are eligible for federal resources and to signal to the community that we are being as proactive as possible. There are ten known cases and all ten are in voluntary isolation. We will be closing non-essential facilities, following best practices, setting examples for other organizations, and businesses, while discouraging public gatherings. Our essential services are still open and running. We encourage people to do business via phone or web and we will keep the community updated. We are all in this together as it is an incredible opportunity to protect ourselves. We are in uncharted territory and we need to come together to support one another. These measures are being taken to shorten the length of time the virus is active in the valley. We are continuing to advocate for the health and safety suggestions found on pitkincounty.com and the CDC website. It’s important that this council remind everyone to avoid contact and stay home and avoid social gatherings. RESOLUTION #20, SERIES OF 2020 – Extension of the Declaration of Emergency City Attorney, Jim True, said that yesterday at 2:00 p.m.; pursuant to state statute, Sara Ott issued a declaration of emergency for the city of Aspen. This declaration will only last seven days unless city council will extend via resolution. The declaration will stand until city council chooses to terminate it. Councilwoman Richards said thank you to Sara and Jim and city staff working behind the scenes. She wants to add to the 5th “whereas”, she would like to add the words “finds appropriate to protect property and civil order”. She thinks it’s an important component as we ask the public to stay calm. Mayor Torre asked if this is an appropriate place to make this change and Mr. True said it’s appropriate. Ms. Ott said she has no comments on the matter. Councilwoman Mullins said she would support the change. Councilman Hauenstein said he would like to set some definition of when we will come out of the emergency, whether it be 14 days after last neg test. He has a certain level of discomfort without a specific date. Mr. True said that council will make an action to terminate. Defining when to do this would be very difficult. He’s not sure what kind of definition to put into this or how appropriate it would be. Councilwoman Richards doesn’t want to create false expectations by creating a deadline too soon. It’s more about the national response. We may have a first wave and then more to come and she would rather leave this indefinite and have council’s ability to terminate it at a later date. Mayor Torre said he is in Rachel’s camp on this. Councilman Mesirow agreed and said he has full trust in this body to visit this as we go. Councilwoman Mullins supports it as well. 2 REGULAR MEETING ASPEN CITY COUNCIL MARCH 13TH, 2020 Councilwoman Richards motioned to approve Resolution #20, Series of 2020 with the amendment; Councilman Mesirow seconded. Mr. True said he sent a copy to council earlier today with one addition adding a line that the prior declaration was attached. Councilwoman Richards said she acknowledged that the prior resolution is attached. All in favor, motion carried. RESOLUTION #21, SERIES OF 2020 – Amending City Council Rules and Regulation to Address Meetings During Times of Emergency. Mr. True said this amends the rules and regulations adopted by council in Resolution #51, Series of 2005. It gives the city manager authority the ability to provide rules and procedures for conducting city council meetings and other boards and commissions through electronic means. As we move forward, there may be desire for people to participate electronically. There are actions that council can take for council to be present virtually at meetings instead of in person. Whether it’s the public participating or council, we are trying to set forth rules which would allow this, and we are trying to amend the rules and regulations which would allow this to be done. Councilwoman Mullins said she would love to see video and not just audio. Ms. Ott said we are trying to ensure equity of access and this may present a challenge for some people. Councilwoman Mullins said she would like to see an end date on this one because she doesn’t want future meetings to move to this virtual place. Mr. True said that was the intent and we are not currently looking at this for a broader use. Councilwoman Richards thanked everyone. She said she would add one thing under the “be it resolved” section to ensure media access, required under the sunshine laws. How do we just state for the record our intent is for access. Ms. Ott said this resolution does not do that and she does not want to call out certain groups. Councilwoman Richards said that an emergency declaration does not get rid of sunshine laws. Mr. true said that we will prepare it in a manner that is completely compliant. Councilwoman Richards said she accepts this as sufficient. Councilwoman Mullins motioned to approve Resolution #21, Series of 2020; Councilman Mesirow seconded. Councilman Mesirow said the expansion of citizen participation through digital means was a good idea before the crisis and it will remain a good idea. CITY MANAGER COMMENTS: – Ms. Ott said there is a lot going on and we are continuing to push out information to the community and coordinating with the incident management team. We are assisting businesses and trying to convey in layman terms around the public health order. We are encouraging the public health department to do this as well. The environmental health department is here to give support to the restaurants as well to figure out how they can keep everything sanitary. Restaurants will also be changing to carry out or delivery options. We are taking steps to ensure containment for the 3 REGULAR MEETING ASPEN CITY COUNCIL MARCH 13TH, 2020 community. On a bigger picture, she’s very proud of our staff. As of Sunday, they are making extended sick leave available and they are also looking at intermittent part time people who are eligible and how are we going to support these folks. We will monitor closely community transmission and data and this was a trigger point for yesterday’s emergency declaration. We as a community need to take action and our facilities need to enact social distancing. We will try as quickly as possible to open back up. We’re here to listen and help be a conduit and we can help get your questions to the right places. Councilman Hauenstein said we are in a constant state of flux. One of the concerns is hourly wage workers aren’t as capable of staying home and working when they are sick. He asked if we help fund these people with symptoms to stay home. Ms. Ott said we are monitoring that closely and we are hoping the state can help provide some clarity for our work force for neighbors and friends here in Aspen. Councilwoman Richards said we are going to continue to look for ways to assist the public and she looks forward to future conversations. Mayor Torre said that over the last couple of days, we are looking for next steps and looking to stay ahead of this. Ms. Ott agreed and said we’ve had some service interruptions. The impact to the community is minimal, but we are feeling it internally. For the community, we are honestly still in the response stage and haven’t hit recovery yet. We are looking at sales and lodging tax collections for economic impact to design policies and be informed for the long haul. For the short haul, social distancing is still encouraged. We have a compassionate community that understands and it’s unprecedented to take these steps, but it’s key. We are working with the incident management team to encourage and mandate changes going forward. All the city council and board meetings have been canceled for next week. Councilwoman Mullins said in terms of response, she’s confident that we will be very understanding and open to ideas. To change rules, to support etc. and she hopes everyone remains open to new ideas to get us through this situation. Councilwoman Mullins said thanks to the staff, city and county. Everyone has done an unbelievable job. concerned regarding the health of population. We are positioning ourselves to support the city and mitigate. There might be temptation to isolate, but we need to follow protocol. We need to be aware of anyone who needs support and be aware of what is going on around us. We must do this and beat this as a community. Councilwoman Richards said this is top of mind. We’ve seen a statewide and national declaration of emergency. It’s important to take this seriously and that is what we’re asking of the public. She spent a lot of time as restaurant cook and you learn better safe than sorry and when in doubt throw it out. We all have to be better safe than sorry right now. This is unprecedented for us as a country, but not the world. We must lead by example. We are cancelling and postponing, as well as cleaning and using products. We are asking that people be calm, but not complacent; be proactive, but don’t panic. She mentioned the movie Apollo 13 with Tom Hanks and she cited a quote regarding this being NASA’s finest moment. She said that Aspen needs to pull together to make this our finest moment in protecting our citizen’s health. Councilman Hauenstein said he is a citizen, a human, and a council member. He said eight years ago, he bought a new car and he hit a bear on the way home and the car never saw Aspen. The bear became his totem. He purchased a Hopi bracelet with a bear on it in Santa Fe. He was told that if the bear faced 4 REGULAR MEETING ASPEN CITY COUNCIL MARCH 13TH, 2020 towards him, it gives him strength, but if it faces outwards, it gives other people strength. He’s always worn it facing him, but now he’s turning it around to face the community. It’s time we need it. He read several quotes and read off a list of events that have been cancelled such as NBA and the NCAA tournament and March Madness. Council and staff will come up with the solutions and answers together. We are in this together. Citizens should engage in this endeavor. This challenge has been placed upon us by destiny. We need to do our part to follow protocols. We will succeed. Be prepared for the recovery period to be elongated. Thank you to all city staff, council, and city manager. Councilman Mesirow said thank you to everyone. This will be difficult, but I think we are lucky compared to most others even with the economic impacts. Many places have to choose between health and economic outcomes, but these are the same for us. We are lucky to have had one of the best seasons to date, but Aspen effectively self-quarantines in the off season. In taking the best efforts to stop the spread right now, we can demonstrate that Aspen is safe again this summer. We are lucky to be in this position. He will keep everyone up to date through his social media channels. Walking into this building, despite the difficulty of the situation, there have been aggressive and healthy steps to protect everyone. He is grateful to be at this table. Councilwoman Richards thanked all the members of the media who have been reporting on this accurately and consistently. Mayor Torre said everyone has had frustration with some of the information over the past five days. We are working on this and with the local agencies to get better information out to the community. We have a long list of next measures for community containment. Please take every precaution you can. This is our number one priority right now with social distancing. Councilwoman Richards motioned to adjourn; Councilman Hauenstein seconded. All in favor, motion carried. ______________________________ Nicole Henning, City Clerk