City Council

MINUTES OF THE CITY OF BRISTOL,TENNESSEE SPECIAL CALLED CITY COUNCIL MEETING March 26,2020 CALL TO ORDER; The City of Bristol, Tennessee Called City Council Meeting was called to order by Mayor Margaret Feierabend at 4:30 p.m. The meeting was held electronically via Zoom. ROLL CALL VOTE: Present were Mayor Margaret Feierabend, Vice Mayor Mahlon Luttrell, Councilman Chad Keen, Councilwoman Lea Powers, and Councilman Vince Turner. Others present were City Manager William L. Sorah, City Attorney Danielle Smith, City Recorder Tara Musick, and Community Relations Director Jon Luttrell. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION: A. Discussion of Necessity for Conducting Electronic Meeting: City Attorney Danielle Smith talked about Governor Lee's Executive Order that allowed City Council to meet via an electronic meeting. The Comptroller recommended that Council state that the electronic meeting is necessary to protect public safety, health, and welfare. Councilwoman Powers made a motion to hold an electronic meeting in light of the coronavirus situation. Councilman Turner seconded the motion. The motion passed by a unanimous roll call vote. B. Review of Information from Ballad Health: Jamie Swift, Ballad Health, said that Ballad Health setup an emergency center a few weeks ago. Tennessee has twenty-three cases in this region. Virginia is at four cases in the region. Eleven cases have come through Ballad Health. Eight of those cases are under the age of forty. She said the public should support social distancing and isolation. The Nurse Connect line is up. Drive thru testing facility is working. Testing capacity is also increasing. The system has not received the test which can be done in house. There is a seven to ten day turnaround for tests in private labs. State lab testing is taking forty-eight to seventy-two hours.  special Called City Council Meeting March 26, 2020 Page 2 of 5 Councilman Turner ask how many people are waiting on test results. Ms. Swift said that she was not sure but she would try to find out. She said that not many suspected cases had been admitted. Testing was being done in the communities via the drive-thrus. She said Ballad Health has one hundred and seventy ventilators. All ventilators have never been in use so we have some lead way. Councilwoman Powers wanted to stress the importance of CDC guidelines. She said that we are waiting for supplies to come in. We need to slow down the curve to prepare while we wait. Ms. Swift stated that we do not have enough ventilators for a full surge. The company is constantly working with partners in the supply chain. They are running the shortest on plastic face shields. Partners in the area are trying to fill the gap with this product. Mayor Feierabend mentioned that the public was sewing masks. Ms. Swift said that they are better than nothing. They are being used at the registration area to help prevent spread. They are being given to patients who can then keep and rewash them at home. Instructions on how to make one are on Ballad's website. Leftover masks will go to cancer patients and immune compromised individuals. Councilman Keen asked how long a patient on average would have to stay on a ventilator. Ms. Swift replied that cases in Italy have been a week or longer. Vice Mayor Luttrell asked what percentage oftest results are coming back positive. Ms. Swift replied that she was unsure but she would try to find the data. Councilwoman Powers asked what the Nurse Connect phone number was. It is 1-833-822- 5523. Ms. Swift stated that Bristol Regional and the Johnson City Medical Centers have drive-thru testing facilities. As of this coming weekend, there will be eleven drive-thru sites which will be open seven days a week. She said they will still be using criteria and Nurse Connect or a physician's orders to determine who to test. Rapid tests results will be four to six hours when available. Vice Mayor Luttrell asked if the blood supply had recovered. Ms. Swift said that it had and that the public had responded. Councilwoman Powers asked if people are still traveling out of town and recommended that they self-quarantine for fourteen days. Mayor Feierabend said the Sullivan County Health Department can provide guidance for those needing to travel.  special Called City Council Meeting March 26, 2020 Page 3 of 5 C. Review of State Actions: City Manager Sorah reviewed available federal assistance which will be for large cities with a population of greater than 500,000. Community Development Block Grant(CDBG)funds may be available to be used for other needs. He reviewed the Governor's Executive Orders to prevent gatherings of more ten people, closure of gyms, restrictions to nursing home and long term care facilities visitation, early shopping hours for citizens, and restaurant closures except drive-thru and takeout. Elective surgeries are prohibited to save personnel protective equipment (PRE). Dental services have been restricted. Childcare is also a topic of discussion. There are initiatives to relax regulations to provide childcare with proper registrations. D. Review of City Actions / Operations in Response to Crisis: City management is meeting in two teams - operations and administration. Each team is meeting daily to review matters and benchmarking with other entities in the area. City buildings are closed to the public. Teleworking is being done. Thirteen employees have been quarantined mainly as a result of travel. All employees going to work are being screened daily. Each is being asked questions and having a temperature check. A small number of patients have been transferred by EMS. No patients have tested positive and all had type A flu. The emergency room has segregated patients until they have been seen. Police officers are only entering residences if they have to. They are meeting citizens outside and over the phone, if possible. The shifts of personnel are being split fifty/fifty to two different locations to separate forces. They have had a slight uptake of calls for domestic issues. PPE for police and fire is adequate in terms of inventory. The Regional Health Coalition is being relied upon for masks and gowns. Fire command staff is disbursed between three stations. Public Works is still moving forward. Inspectors and engineers are still busy. There is a mailbox at the Shelby Street entrance for a hard copy process. Fleet Maintenance is important going forward to support public safety and will continue. Planning staff is largely working at home. Transit fares have been suspended and routes are continuing. There is an average of one hundred twenty-five riders a day. The number of riders on a bus should be less than ten at all times. All parks remain open. People are encouraged to practice social distancing at the parks. The gate fee has also been suspended. The Slater Center and Nature Center are closed. Recreation programs and BTN staff are making videos for exercise and to occupy young children.  Special Called City Council Meeting March 26, 2020 Page 4 of 5 Mayor Feierabend is pulling nonprofits together to serve social needs. Parks and Recreation Director Terry Napier will also serve on this committee. We stand ready to work and partner with non-profits. Even though City Hall is closed, administrative staff are still working though some are working remotely. Business must continue. Payments can be dropped off on 8^*^ Street or in the atrium. Budget is ongoing. Revenues are being reviewed in light of COVID-19. Staff is looking at what we must pay versus the revenues. Councilman Keen says all sounds good. Councilwoman Powers said everyone is doing a great job. Things will change as the event changes. City Manager Sorah said that he had asked staff what can be done remotely ifthings get worse. Contingency plans are in place to operate at levels of lower staff. Mayor Feierabend asked if bathrooms at the parks remain open. City Manager Sorah replied that Steele Creek and the Downtown Center are open during regular hours of operations. Mayor Feierabend is happy that trash will still be picked up. E. Council Comments: Mayor Feierabend asked what will be done about future meetings and who Council would like to hear updates from. Councilman Turner would like to hear an update on the Mayor's meetings. He would also like to discuss a succession plan if City Manager Sorah is unable to act as City Manager. City Manager Sorah reviewed that he had designated Development Services Director Tim Beavers and then Police Chief Blaine Wade as successors. The Charter allows the appointment of a City Manager and Interim City Manager. Ms. Smith recommended that she review the matter and the issue be discussed at the next Council meeting. Councilwoman Powers asked for Council to meet once or twice a week during the week via teleconference during the event.  Special Called City Council Meeting March 26, 2020 Page 5 of 5 Mayor Feierabend asked when the next meeting should be held. It was discussed to meet on Mondays which follows the health department meetings on Fridays. The schedule is to be determined. The Mayor thanked everyone for coming and thanked staff for attending. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:45 p.m. by the Mayor. ^argaret Feierabend. Mayor f. Tara E. Musick, City Recorder