City Council

160 Duke Of Gloucester City of Annapolis Street Annapolis, MD 21401 Special Minutes - Final City Council Monday, April 6, 2020 7:00 PM Mayor John T. Chambers, Jr. City Council Chambers Virtual Meeting Call to Order Mayor Buckley called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Invocation Given by Alderman Arnett. Pledge of Allegiance Led by Mayor Buckley. Roll Call Tonight's roll call began with Alderman Paone. Present: 9 - Mayor Buckley, Alderwoman Tierney, Alderman Paone, Alderwoman Pindell Charles, Alderwoman Finlayson, Alderman Rodriguez, Alderman Savidge, Alderman Arnett and Alderman Gay Approval of Agenda Alderman Arnett moved to approve the agenda as amended to add R-21-20 Management Information Technology (MIT) Manager - Brian Paquin. Seconded. A roll call vote was taken. The motion CARRIED by the following vote: Aye: 9 - Mayor Buckley, Alderwoman Tierney, Alderman Paone, Alderwoman Pindell Charles, Alderwoman Finlayson, Alderman Rodriguez, Alderman Savidge, Alderman Arnett and Alderman Gay Petitions, Reports and Communications A. Update from the Mayor Mayor Gavin Buckley City Council Remarks April 6, 2020 - 7 p.m. Good evening. Thank you for tuning in to our first-ever virtual City Council meeting in the 300-plus years since Annapolis was chartered. Please recognize that this is new. We have intentionally limited this meeting to three short agenda items and not added public testimony so that we can work out all the technology providing transparency before our City of Annapolis Page 1 City Council Special Minutes - Final April 6, 2020 next meeting where we will introduce the 2021 City budget and have witnesses and testimony. That’s on Monday, April 13 at 7 p.m. We will try to return to some normalcy by slowly adding committee meetings and some board and commission meetings. They’ll all be virtual for the time being. We thank you for your patience and understanding. This is a very trying time for the city of Annapolis. While we are an old City with a rich history, we haven’t encountered a pandemic with a full shutdown of most of our local economy in the modern era. So much of this is new. If I can use a sailing analogy: we are doing our best to navigate these rough seas with minimal loss of life and no lasting damage to our vessel. Our first priority as a City is to ensure the safety of residents. We continue to ask you to stay home, wash your hands, and practice social distancing. Our main goal is to stop the spread, flatten the curve and get to the other side of this as soon as possible. As you know, our business community has been very hard hit. If you are a local business owner or worker who has been impacted by this pandemic, please check our City website for resources. Stephen Rice and Hope Stewart of our office of Economic Development have been collecting information about state and federal programs as well as nonprofit resources. There are many programs in place with more coming online. We will continue to keep this information updated. Check back often. We have been working with our procurement office to ensure that our City employees have the Personal Protective Equipment they need to do their jobs. We are doing everything we can to ensure that not only do our police and firefighters have this equipment, but that bus drivers and DPW workers and other essential employees have the protections that they need. This is a priority and I want to thank our Office of Procurement and the Office of Emergency Management for staying on top of this. The county already has one officer who has tested positive. We need to keep our front line staff safe from this virus. PPE is important, but it only works if it is the right kind and we have enough. The City Manager and Department Directors are very actively engaged in the effort to maintain as much continuity of government as possible. This meeting is one component piece, a very public-facing piece, but just one piece. Each day, we convene all departments on a call so that everyone has an opportunity to talk about challenges. We are leaning heavily on each other to solve problems so that our City can be ready to emerge from this crisis on a strong footing. We are also leaning heavily on our county partners. The Anne Arundel County Department of Health has been operating a health line where City of Annapolis residents, as part of the county, can call to get health information about Covid-19. That number again is 410-222-7256. Last week, they also opened an Annapolis drive through testing site at the Health Department off Riva Road. People need an appointment and a doctor’s order to get the test. The fact is, we need more tests and we need the ability to test everyone so that we can know who has it and who doesn’t. We will continue to push this. I advocated for this on a call last week with Senators Cardin and VanHollen. We will continue to ask to expand testing. City of Annapolis Page 2 City Council Special Minutes - Final April 6, 2020 We have also been following the county’s lead in other areas, like keeping parks open but closing off playgrounds and other facilities where people might be tempted to congregate. We continue to seek your cooperation. Please maintain social distance. Please don’t try to get in to the grocery store during senior citizen shopping hours. Please don’t congregate at outdoor markets or when you are picking up your carryout order. This is incredibly hard. It’s hard on the economy. It’s hard on us socially and emotionally and mentally. But I know Annapolis to be a resilient city. I know us to be a city that has a lot of love for one another and a deep reserve of cooperation, volunteerism and kindness in our hearts. Stick with it and we’ll get to the other side. We’ll emerge stronger if we are together - but while standing at least six feet apart. Let’s get on with our meeting. Legislative Action First Readers R-24-20 State of Emergency - For the purpose of amending and restating the Declaration of State of Emergency for the City of Annapolis issued on March 12, 2020; extending the termination date for said State of Emergency; and designating an Acting Mayor during the State of Emergency. Sponsors: Buckley Alderman Arnett moved to adopt R-24-20 on first reader. Seconded. A roll call vote was taken. The motion CARRIED by the following vote: Aye: 9 - Mayor Buckley, Alderwoman Tierney, Alderman Paone, Alderwoman Pindell Charles, Alderwoman Finlayson, Alderman Rodriguez, Alderman Savidge, Alderman Arnett and Alderman Gay Alderman Arnett moved to suspend the rules to allow passage of resolution at the meeting of its introduction. Seconded. A roll call vote was taken. The motion CARRIED by the following vote: Aye: 9 - Mayor Buckley, Alderwoman Tierney, Alderman Paone, Alderwoman Pindell Charles, Alderwoman Finlayson, Alderman Rodriguez, Alderman Savidge, Alderman Arnett and Alderman Gay Alderman Arnett moved to adopt R-24-20 on second reader. Seconded. A roll call vote was taken. The motion CARRIED by the following vote: Aye: 9 - Mayor Buckley, Alderwoman Tierney, Alderman Paone, Alderwoman Pindell Charles, Alderwoman Finlayson, Alderman Rodriguez, Alderman Savidge, Alderman Arnett and Alderman Gay R-25-20 Small Business Recovery Task Force- For the purpose of establishing a temporary emergency Task Force commissioned to focus on the experiences that Annapolis businesses are facing in the time of the COVID-19 declarations protecting citizen health. Sponsors: Buckley, Pindell Charles and Tierney City of Annapolis Page 3 City Council Special Minutes - Final April 6, 2020 Alderman Arnett moved to adopt R-25-20 on first reader. Seconded. A roll call vote was taken. The motion CARRIED by the following vote: Aye: 9 - Mayor Buckley, Alderwoman Tierney, Alderman Paone, Alderwoman Pindell Charles, Alderwoman Finlayson, Alderman Rodriguez, Alderman Savidge, Alderman Arnett and Alderman Gay Alderman Arnett moved to suspend the rules to allow passage of resolution at the meeting of its introduction. Seconded. A roll call vote was taken. The motion CARRIED by the following vote: Aye: 9 - Mayor Buckley, Alderwoman Tierney, Alderman Paone, Alderwoman Pindell Charles, Alderwoman Finlayson, Alderman Rodriguez, Alderman Savidge, Alderman Arnett and Alderman Gay Alderwoman Finlayson moved to adopt R-25-20 on second reader. Seconded. A roll call vote was taken. The motion CARRIED by the following vote: Aye: 9 - Mayor Buckley, Alderwoman Tierney, Alderman Paone, Alderwoman Pindell Charles, Alderwoman Finlayson, Alderman Rodriguez, Alderman Savidge, Alderman Arnett and Alderman Gay R-21-20 Management Information Technology (MIT) Manager - Brian Paquin - For the purpose of expressly confirming the appointment of Brian Paquin as the MIT Manager; and consenting to compensate the MIT Manager. Sponsors: Buckley Alderman Paone moved to adopt R-21-20 on first reader. Seconded. A roll call vote was taken. The motion CARRIED by the following vote: Aye: 9 - Mayor Buckley, Alderwoman Tierney, Alderman Paone, Alderwoman Pindell Charles, Alderwoman Finlayson, Alderman Rodriguez, Alderman Savidge, Alderman Arnett and Alderman Gay Alderman Savidge moved to suspend the rules to allow passage of resolution at the meeting of its introduction Seconded. A roll call vote was taken. The motion CARRIED by the following vote: Aye: 9 - Mayor Buckley, Alderwoman Tierney, Alderman Paone, Alderwoman Pindell Charles, Alderwoman Finlayson, Alderman Rodriguez, Alderman Savidge, Alderman Arnett and Alderman Gay Alderman Savidge moved to adopt R-21-20 on second reader. Seconded. A roll call vote was taken. The motion CARRIED by the following vote: Aye: 9 - Mayor Buckley, Alderwoman Tierney, Alderman Paone, Alderwoman Pindell Charles, Alderwoman Finlayson, Alderman Rodriguez, Alderman Savidge, Alderman Arnett and Alderman Gay Adjournment Upon motion duly made, seconded and adopted, the meeting was adjourned at 7:34 p.m. Regina C. Watkins-Eldridge, MMC City Clerk City of Annapolis Page 4