City Council

409 S. Main Street City of Harrisonburg Harrisonburg, VA 22801 Meeting Minutes - Final City Council Monday, April 6, 2020 2:15 PM Council Chambers Special Meeting 1. Roll Call Present: 5- Mayor Deanna R. Reed, Vice-Mayor Sal Romero, Council Member Richard Baugh, Council Member Christopher B. Jones and Council Member George Hirschmann Also Present: 3- City Manager Eric Campbell, City Clerk Pam Ulmer and City Attorney Chris Brown 2. Regular Items 2.a. Consider adopting an ordinance to effectuate temporary changes in certain deadlines and to modify public meeting and public hearing practices and procedures to address continuity of operations associated with pandemic disaster Chris Brown, City Attorney, declared all council members and staff are participating via telephone. He presented an ordinance to permit emergency meetings by telephone under certain situations. He stated the Governor has declared a State of Emergency for the state of Virginia, on March 12, 2020 by Executive Order # 51, and the nature of the declared emergency is the Covid-19 Pandemic which makes it unsafe to assemble a quorum in a single location. He stated the purpose of this meeting is to provide the continuity of the city government, public Notice as required by state law was given and public access has been arranged. He stated the proposed ordinance recites that the Covid-19 Pandemic makes it unsafe for a public body to assemble in one location, which would include City Council, City School Board, Planning Commission, Board of Zoning Appeals, Board of Equalization, Board of Building Appeals, Board of Elections, and any other local or regional board, commission, committee, or authority created by City Council or to which Council appoints a member. He stated meetings that require physical presence may be held through electronic means including audio, telephone, video and other practical electronic medium without a quorum physically present in one location. He stated this means we will continue to meet in Council Chambers, but it is not necessary for all members to be present, public must be notified as to how they can participate in the meeting, and declarations as part of the agenda during the meeting must be stated . He stated this ordinance also allows the public access only via electronic means as they will not be able to physically attend the meetings and allows comments to be accepted in advance from the public and provided to Council, as well as provide the ability for the public to call into a meeting during certain sections of the meeting. He stated the ordinance also suspends any deadlines requiring action by the City City of Harrisonburg Page 1 Printed on 4/28/2020 City Council Meeting Minutes - Final April 6, 2020 Council, , officers and employees during the pending local emergency. He stated this is an emergency ordinance in effect for 60 days unless it is amended, rescinded, or re-adopted by Council. A motion was made by Council Member Baugh, seconded by Council Member Hirschmann, to adopt the emergency ordinance as presented. The motion carried with a recorded roll call vote taken as follows: 3 Adjournment Mayor Reed thanked everyone for attending via telephone and asked everyone to be safe and healthy. At 2:23 p.m., there being no further business and on motion adopted, the meeting was adjourned. ________________________ ________________________ CITY CLERK MAYOR City of Harrisonburg Page 2 Printed on 4/28/2020