HomeMy WebLinkAboutDirection - Resumption of In-Person Council Committee and Commission MeetingsSTAFF REPORT
CITY OF PALM DESERT
CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE
MEETING DATE: June 25, 2020
PREPARED BY: Lauri Aylaian, City Manager
REQUEST: Direction on the Resumption of In -Person City Council and
Committee and Commission Meetings
Recommendation
By Minute Motion, provide direction to staff on the resumption of in -person
City Council and Committee and Commission meetings.
Backqround Analvsis
The Governor of California issued a Proclamation of a State of Emergency on March 4,
2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which was followed by a declaration of
local health emergency by the Riverside County Public Health Officer on March 8. The
chronology of public health orders in Riverside County thereafter led to the cancellation
of the Coachella and Stagecoach music festivals on March 10 and the cancellation of
public gatherings of more than 250 people on March 12.
Schools were ordered closed on March 13 and on March 16 an order was issued
prohibiting gatherings in the County of Riverside with an expected presence of more than
10 people. While this excluded critical city operations, Governor Newsom's order on
March 19, directing all individuals living in the State to stay home except for certain
essential services, placed increased emphasis on conducting city business differently for
municipalities across the state, including the City of Palm Desert.
For the March 26 meeting of the City Council, Councilmembers were allowed to
participate in the meeting via teleconference, as allowed under Governor Newsom's
Executive Order N-25-20. The public was strongly encouraged to participate remotely in
the meeting by sending an email or leaving a voicemail prior to the meeting. The April 16
meeting was the first City Council meeting conducted entirely outside of the Council
Chambers by way of a video conference that was simultaneously streamed over the City's
website.
Committee and commission meetings were largely suspended in March after the
issuance of the County and State public health orders. Since then, several committees
and commissions have resumed their meetings remotely using video conference,
including the Planning Commission, the Architectural Review Commission, the Public
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Resumption of City Council and Committee and Commission Meetings
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Safety Commission, the El Paseo BID, the Marketing Committee, and the Parks and
Recreation Commission.
The City has been working to restore operations out of the Palm Desert Civic Center
under Stage 3 of the Governor's reopening plan as implemented under approved variance
in Riverside County. Most staff who were previously directed to work remotely are
preparing to return to the workplace in shifts on June 29 and it is anticipated that City Hall
will be open to the public in some manner the following week.
With these plans, staff has prepared a supplementary document to the City's Injury and
Illness Prevention Program (IIPP), the COVID-19 Exposure Control Plan. Modeled on a
document prepared by the California Joint Powers Insurance Authority (JPIA) and
including information available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC), local county health department requirements, the COVID-19 Exposure Control
Plan provides guidance on safe work practices to prevent exposure and limit transmission
of the virus. Among the guidance are the following recommendations:
Maintain a distance of at least 6-feet between yourself and other people at all
times.
Avoid face-to-face meetings. Meetings should be conducted via video or
teleconference. Meetings requiring in -person discussion must follow the
City's social distancing protocol. In -person meetings of more than 5
individuals in a conference room shall not be convened.
There is further guidance on cleaning and disinfecting surfaces and making hand sanitizer
available at facility entrances and waiting areas. Overall, these protocols and procedures
will allow staff to prepare to open to the public in a safe manner, although there are
significant challenges in the resumption of meetings in the same manner as they were
prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the COVID-19 Exposure Control Plan, meetings
are restricted to 5 persons or less and appropriate social distancing must be maintained.
The document encourages meetings to occur through video conference.
Based on the available information to date and the continued need to maintain social
distancing and to avoid large gatherings of people, staff recommends that the committee
and commission meetings continue to meet using video or teleconference until such time
that these requirements can be relaxed.
Staff is also recommending that City Council continue to convene their study session and
regular meetings, and those of the Successor Agency to the Palm Desert Redevelopment
Agency and the Housing Authority, through video conference for the foreseeable future.
Because of its importance to informed decision making, Staff has also focused on
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Resumption of City Council and Committee and Commission Meetings
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allowing public input live during meetings of the City Council, and hopes to deploy that
technology in time for the June 25, 2020 Council meeting.
Should City Council seek to resume either committee and commission meetings or City
Council meetings at this point, direction is needed as to which meetings Council seeks to
prioritize to return to the Palm Desert Civic Center, when City Council desires to
recommence those meetings, and any precautions the City should take to minimize
exposure and transmission of the virus.
Fiscal Analvsis
Outside of the cost to purchase and maintain licenses for video conferences, there is no
anticipated fiscal impact.
LEGAL REVIEW
WA
Robert W. Hargreaves
City Attorney
DEPT. REVIEW
1d for
Lori Carney
Lori Carney
Director of
Administrative Services
City Manager Lauri Aylaian: 2d
FINANCIAL REVIEW
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Janet M. Moore
Director of Finance
ASSISTANT
CITY MANAGER
.Andy Firestine
Andy Firestine
Assistant City Manager