City Council Work Session

CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION Cedar Falls Council Chambers August 26, 2020 The City Council held a special work session at City Hall via teleconference at 4:00 p.m. on August 26, 2020, with the following persons in attendance: Mayor Robert M. Green, Frank Darrah, Simon Harding, Daryl Kruse, Mark Miller, Dave Sires, and Kelly Dunn. Absent: Susan deBuhr (Meeting scheduled at a time she couldn’t attend). Staff members attended from all City Departments. Amie Rivers from the Waterloo Courier attended, as well as members of the community. Mayor Green introduced the only item on the agenda, COVID-19 Mitigation Options Discussion. Mayor Green read an opening statement regarding tonight’s work session. Councilmember Harding commented to inform the public this was a work session and there would be no motions or voting at a work session. Councilmember Dunn stated she is for the mask mandate and keeping all citizens safe. She also would like to educate the citizens and have reliable/acceptable resources. Councilmember Miller commented there are baseline facts that are important and stated that numerous cities in Iowa have a mask mandate. Mayor Green stated the baseline for information and recommendations are from the County Health Representative. Councilmember Miller posed the question of waiting for the governor to put something in place or take it on as a city. Mayor Green presented the current COVID tracker from Black Hawk County. Councilmember Dunn stated we all need to pretend we have it, wear the mask, make changes as needed, and as data is collected make recommended changes. Councilmember Harding stated concern from local business owners that the mask mandate pushes customers away. Councilmember Miller stated the local businesses and UNI want to keep everyone safe; the goal is to get back to normal and there’s not much guidance from the state. Mayor Green stated we need to get everyone comfortable to get back out and educate local merchants. Councilmember Miller suggested closing streets to accommodate business owners to expand in the street; review what ordinances would need to be changed before spring. Councilmember Sires stated this is a freedom of business owners and they need to manage their businesses. Things need to get back to normal and council meetings need to return to City Hall Council Chambers. Councilmember Sires stated that he’s against this and it’s infringing on freedoms. Kevin Rogers City Attorney clarified questions from councilmembers regarding court cases, resolutions and ordinances. Councilmember Harding posed the question is the city liable if we have a resolution. Attorney Rogers stated the city is not liable and cases would need to be upheld in court. Mayor Green stated 7 or 8 cities in Iowa currently have a mask mandate at various levels. Craig Bert Assistant Public Safety Director/Police Chief stated City of Ames is drafting an ordinance with no penalty, Dubuque has a $10.00 fine and have had no citations issued, Mt. Vernon has a resolution and it’s unenforceable, Iowa City has an ordinance and a $450.00 fine and no citations have been issued. Police Chief Berte stated that enforcement will be problematic and challenging. Councilmember Sires suggested an educational commercial on Channel 15. Councilmembers discussed what should be the next steps; education, should mask mandate resolution be the next step, would an ordinance be more effective with fines/enforcement. Police Chief Berte explained loitering ordinance. Councilmember Miller suggested these goals: Get businesses to 100% capacity, keep UNI/Schools open, resident’s safety, and don’t overload the hospitals. Councilmember Miller suggested another work session. Councilmember Harding agreed with another work session meeting. Mayor Green stated he will schedule another work session in the coming days. There being no further discussion, Mayor Green adjourned the meeting at 5:15 p.m. Minutes by Lisa Roeding, Controller/City Treasurer