2020-03-30 City Council Special MeetingA,lb-ertville
Small Wing. Big life.
1. Call to Order
City of Albertville Council Agenda
Special Meeting
Monday, March 30, 2020
Via Video Conference
7:00 p.m.
2. Motion to adopt the City of Albertville's Continuity of Operations Plan
3. Motion to adopt the City of Albertville's Pandemic Emergency Response Plan
4. Motion to approve Proclamation No. 20-20 Declaring a Local Emergency
5. Motion to approve Resolution No. 2020 —XX Paid Administrative Leave
6. Adjournment
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City of Albertville, MN
March 23rd, 2020
A. Purpose
The purpose of this plan is to provide authority and parameters for efficient response to
emergencies which require temporary realignment of City resources to respond and to ensure
continuity of operations in the event of such an emergency. Emergencies may include, but are not
limited to, public health emergencies, natural disasters, and severe/inclement weather.
B. Priority of Operations
The following priority of operations shall guide emergency response decisions and operations. The
City Administrator, in coordination with the Director of Emergency Management, has broad
authority to determine how work is conducted within this general priority of operations plan.
1. Public Safety and Security — Services that must be continued during all emergencies to protect
the safety and welfare of the public.
a. Fire Department
i. Fire / Medical call response
ii. Emergency Management
iii. Emergency Public Information
b. Public Works / Water / Waste Water
i. Sewer and water
ii. Snow and ice removal and control
iii. Emergency maintenance and disaster recovery
iv. Emergency vehicle and equipment repair
V. Emergency Locates
vi. Coordination with Utility Companies
c. Administration
i. Server, application and device support (specific to emergency response and
communications)
ii. Public information
iii. Internal and external communications
iv. Facilities, HVAC, and utility systems
V. Emergency repair/maintenance
2. Essential Services — Services that may be disrupted temporarily, typically no longer than five
days, but must be re-established as soon as possible.
a. Administration / Finance
i. Payroll/Workers Compensation
ii. Procurement and Contracting
iii. Accounts Payable/Receivable
iv. City Council Meetings
V. Facilities Cleaning/Disinfection
vi. IT services as necessary
vii. Emergency Permits, Inspections, and Licensing
3. Necessary Services — Services that can be temporarily suspended for a period of longer than five
days but typically not more than six weeks.
a. Fire Department
i. Fire code inspections
b. Planning and Development
i. Inspections
ii. Planning activities
iii. Permitting
c. Public Works
i. Engineering
ii. Utilities locates
iii. Routine vehicle maintenance
d. Administration
i. Licensing
ii. Finance functions
4. Non -Essential Services — Services that may be suspended until emergency conditions have been
abated.
a. Parks and Recreation
b. Reservations for public facilities
c. Compost Site
d. All other services
C. Responsible Authority, Delegation of Authority
1. The City Administrator, in coordination with the Director of Emergency Management, may, after
informing the City Council, close facilities, suspend non -essential operations, adjust work
assignments, work locations, and establish priorities in accordance with the parameters set
forth in this policy. Within a reasonable period, typically no more than five days of emergency
operations, the City Council may meet to review emergency response and provide direction to
the City Administrator, and/or the Director of Emergency Management, as to continued
emergency operations.
2. Department heads are essential personnel and are expected to perform their duties to the best
of their ability in the event of emergency. City Administrator must designate at least one other
employee in their Department to act in the event of their incapacitation or absence. Names of
designated personnel must be conveyed to the Director of Emergency Management, and to
Department personnel. In a circumstance where all identified employees in the line of
succession are incapacitated or absent, the City Administrator, and/or the Director of
Emergency Management, may designate acting leadership. The line of succession for City
leadership is the City Administrator, the Director of Emergency Management, and the Finance
Director.
3. The City Administrator may suspend normal processes and approval procedures for accounts
payable and payroll. The City Administrator must designate at least one employee to review and
approve accounts payable and payroll, subject to the City Administrator's review.
4. The City Administrator may modify personnel rules to allow for reasonable use of accrued sick,
vacation or compensatory time, and to allow for unpaid time off. The City Administrator may
also suspend the use of vacation and compensatory time.
D. Facility Closure and/or Suspension of Services
1. Unless directed otherwise, all employees are expected to report for their regularly scheduled
shifts and work assignments.
2. Department Heads and/or the City Administrator may cancel planned leaves of absence as
necessary. Direct communication to affected employees is required.
3. Employees who deliver services in Public Safety and/or Essential Services are expected to report
as directed. Regardless of facility closure Public Safety related work will not be suspended.
4. If facilities are closed to the public, but employees are directed to report to work:
a. Employees are expected to report for regularly scheduled shifts and work assignments.
b. At the discretion of the City Administrator, employees may use accrued vacation or
compensatory time, or unpaid leave if they have no accrued time.
5. In the event facilities are closed to the public and employees are directed not to report to work:
a. Every effort will be made for employees to work remotely.
b. Full time employees not able to work remotely, but not required to report will still be
paid their normal pay for the day(s) they are not allowed to report to work.
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A. Plan Objectives
In response to a pandemic emergency, the City of Albertville has prepared this plan to meet the
following objectives:
1. Follow the City of Albertville Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) in order to ensure delivery of
basic City services.
2. Mitigate the spread of the virus among employees.
3. Assist employees and their families in managing personal and/or family illnesses during an
outbreak.
Pandemic planning presents unique differences from the City of Albertville COOP template. Focusing on
continuity of operations with considerable loss of staff, depleted resources, and a public on high alert
will be a considerable challenge. The priority will be ensuring that essential City operations continue.
This entails that each Department within the City develop a list of service priorities and corresponding
plans for meeting those priorities.
B. Plan Assumptions
The City may be faced with a reduction in its workforce and significant human health concerns in the
workplace environment. This plan is designed to help the City minimize the risk that a pandemic may
pose to the health and safety of employees, continuity of operations, and economic well-being.
No one can predict when a pandemic might occur, how long it will last, and how serious its impacts
might be. Therefore, it is imperative the City take steps to develop service continuation plans that
protect employees, minimize disruptions, and limit negative impacts on customers and our community.
While a pandemic cannot be stopped, proper preparation may reduce the impact. Preparedness and
mitigation require that the City assume and plan for a worst -case scenario. Accordingly, the City's
Pandemic Preparedness Plan is based on the following assumptions:
1. Wright County Public Health, the Minnesota Department of Health, or the Center for Disease
Control and Prevention will be the lead agency(s) ("Responsible Authority") in the public health
response to the pandemic.
2. The City Administrator and City's Director of Emergency Management will act as the leads,
coordinating the City's Department Heads.
3. Absenteeism due to illness rates for City employees could be high at the height of the
pandemic's peak. Employees may fail to report to work due to fear of becoming ill or because
they are caring for an afflicted family member.
4. Basic services such as healthcare, law enforcement, fire and emergency response,
communications, transportation, and utilities could be disrupted during a pandemic.
5. Assistance from outside organizations, County, State, and Federal government may be limited.
6. The City may not be able to perform all functions and provide all services at full capacity
throughout the pandemic.
7. Any City office may be closed due to staffing shortages or community quarantine.
C. Preventing Spread at the Workplace
Promoting respiratory hygiene/cough etiquette: The City will promote hygiene through a variety of
methods to help reduce the spread of the virus at the worksite. Though respiratory hygiene and cough
etiquette are simple concepts, during a pandemic they become a vital defense to a potentially
dangerous outbreak.
Since indirect transmission (e.g. from hand-to-hand, or hand to contaminated object and then
contaminated object to hand) is the main way in which the virus is passed from person to person,
educational programs will reiterate the need for routine and frequent hand washing. Washing with plain
soap, hand sanitizer lotion, alcohol or other antiseptic -based hand wash products eliminates the virus. It
is important to wash hands even if protective gloves have been worn. Gloves are not a substitute for
hand washing.
Hand sanitizer lotion and tissues will be provided in each work site for employees to enhance proper
cough and hygiene etiquette. Employees should cover their mouth when coughing or sneezing and
wash/sanitize their hands immediately thereafter. Additionally, all employees should avoid/reduce close
contact with the public or other employees. The telephone or e-mail should be used to communicate
whenever possible.
To prevent spread the City will also:
1. Disseminate information on the pandemic and how it is spread.
2. Disseminate information to employees on proper hygiene methods and other behavior activities
and/or restrictions that will reduce the risk of spreading the pandemic virus among the
workforce.
3. Display educational materials to remind employees of proper cough etiquette, hand washing,
and other behaviors that will reduce the risk of infection.
4. Provide information to employees to assist them in protecting themselves and their families
during a pandemic.
5. Relay information to employees through e-mail, and mailings to employees at their homes, if
requested.
6. Develop and distribute flyers containing accurate and up-to-date information about the
situation and to provide a location within each department to post this information for
employees.
Hand -hygiene products, tissues, disposal receptacles: The City will identify the products or supplies
needed and the sources from which to obtain them. The City will maintain an inventory of these items,
such as hand sanitizer, tissue paper, and other personal protective equipment items for use by
employees in their work area.
D. Guidelines to Modify Frequency and Type of Face -to -Face Contact
Face -to -Face: In face-to-face meetings, individuals should limit contact. Participants should practice
staying six (6) feet or more apart.
Handshaking: Employees should stop shaking hands if there is a pandemic to help reduce the spread of
the disease. If employees find themselves shaking hands, they should practice increased hand hygiene.
Meetings: Employees should limit attendance at meetings. Meetings should be suspended when the
same information can be obtained with a conference call, e-mail, or through chat groups over the
internet. If a face- to -face meeting is necessary, following the following rules may help ensure that
transmission of the virus is limited:
1. The room being used should be cleaned and disinfected using good housekeeping techniques
such as disinfecting the tables, chairs, phones, and other places that one might be expected to
touch.
2. Prop the door open (when doing so would not breach facility security) to keep employees, and
the public, from touching the doorknobs.
3. Spread out as much as possible and avoid hand shaking.
4. Minimize the length of meetings.
5. Meet in large rooms.
6. Require all employees to wash their hands after leaving meetings.
7. Clean the room after each use.
In the event of a pandemic outbreak, the City Administrator may issue a directive cancelling all meetings
and/or a directive banning non -City employees, including vendors, from entering City buildings.
Social Distancing: Social distancing refers to strategies to reduce the frequency of contact (and the
transmission of a virus) between people by minimizing close contact during phases of a pandemic.
Contacts are those persons who have had close (6-feet or less) physical or confined airspace contact
with an infected person within four days of that person developing symptoms. These are likely to
include family members and/or other living companions, co-workers (if in confined airspace
environments) and possibly recreational companions. The City will encourage the use of technology to
facilitate social distancing by using communications networks, remote access, and web access to
maintain distance among employees and between employees and citizens whenever possible.
Entering Properties: If a pandemic emergency is declared by the City Administrator and/or Director of
Emergency Management, employees will not enter residential or commercial properties for the
purposes of inspection, or repair unless:
1. Entry is approved by a supervisor.
2. Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) is worn.
3. Immediate decontamination upon leaving the property.
Utility and Public Works employees who respond to sewer, water, or lift station emergencies shall wear
Personal Protective Equipment.
Personal Protective Equipment and decontamination procedures will be used when possible by all first
responder personnel who enter properties for fire calls and medical emergencies. In some instances, the
Fire Department may not respond to suspected or confirmed pandemic related calls for service. These
calls will be referred to the local EMS provider.
E. Administration and Human Resources
Activation of the Plan: The City Administrator, in coordination with the Director of Emergency
Management, will activate the plan based on the current situation and in coordination with the
Pandemic Response Plan of Wright County and/or the State of Minnesota. City Staff will use the City's
plan (either in total or in part) in the event of a pandemic to which the City is called to respond.
Activation of the plan will correspond to the evolution of the pandemic. The following events will be
considered trigger events for implementation of all or portions of this plan:
1. The United States Federal Government, through their official Agencies, issues a Pandemic
Declaration for the United States of America, and/or
2. The State of Minnesota issues a Pandemic Declaration for the State, and/or
3. The Wright County Public Health Department, and/or Wright County Department of Emergency
Management, issue a Pandemic Declaration for the County, and/or
4. The Mayor of the City of Albertville declares a Pandemic Emergency for the City.
In coordination with the City Administrator, the Director of Emergency Management will activate the
City's Pandemic Response Plan in the event a pandemic crisis is imminent or has occurred.
Pandemic Crisis Assessment: Upon notification of a pandemic crisis, the City Administrator, Director of
Emergency Management, and Department Heads will meet to:
1. Make an initial risk determination to define the extent of the crisis and determine what portions
of the program need to be implemented based on that analysis.
2. Continually assess the severity of the crisis, the efficacy of the City's response, and determine
whether changes need to be made. If members are unable to physically meet due to
governmental limitations on travel or quarantine, meetings will be held by remote means.
3. Make a determination regarding the cancellation of public meetings.
Sick Leave: During a declared pandemic, the following sick leave policy will be used for all pandemic
related absences:
1. All eligible regular, full-time employees will be allowed to use sick time as prescribed according
to the City policy.
2. Employees who request sick leave must contact their immediate supervisor.
Return to work after illness: Employees affected shall not return to work until they have met, or
exceeded, the standards established by the responsible authority for returning to work.
Travel restrictions: During a declared pandemic emergency, the following travel policy will be instituted:
1. Upon the announcement by the Governor or other authorized public health official that the
State of Minnesota is subject to a pandemic outbreak, all Out -of -City work travel must be
approved by a supervisor.
2. If work travel is imminent and refunds cannot, or will not, be made, the City Administrator may
decide to allow the employee to take the prearranged trip if the employee presents a doctor's
statement indicating that he/she does not have the pandemic virus.
3. If a pandemic emergency is declared, the City Administrator will suspend City travel and
training.
4. If an employee lives in a community that has been declared a pandemic zone by its local
government, health department or other responsible entity, or is otherwise quarantined due to
such an outbreak, the employee shall notify their immediate supervisor, the on -call supervisor,
or EOC Incident commander if operational, of the announcement, as soon as practical. The
affected employee shall not report to the workplace until the quarantine is lifted and the
employee has met, or exceeded, the standards established by the responsible authority for
returning to work.
Availability of medical consultation and advice: The City will use a combination of sources for medical
consultation and advice, including Wright County Public Health, the Minnesota Department of Health
(MDH), and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). An increase in the threat alert level
may trigger a review to determine if independent medical consultation is necessary.
F. Flexible Work Schedule
Work schedules will be determined by the service needs of the City Administrator and will be managed
through the Department Head accordingly. The Department Head will determine an appropriate
schedule for an employee to best fit the needs of the department during a pandemic event. The
Department Head may require employees to change work schedules in order to reduce the risk of the
virus spreading at the work site.
Employees may be assigned to other departments and/or cross -trained with other departments to
ensure proper City services are provided.
G. Employees Exposed or Suspected of Exposure
Employees should be conscious of their own health; those who experience any pandemic symptoms, as
described by the Responsible Authority, should notify their immediate supervisor and stay home. If
symptoms begin at work, employees should notify their immediate supervisor of the potential exposure
and go home.
Employees MUST report if they have been given notice of potential exposure to, or that they have
contracted, a contagious disease or illness and the Responsible Authority has directed them to
quarantine.
If an employee is given a notice of potential exposure to a contagious disease or illness that has been
documented as a potential or actual pandemic by the Responsible Authority:
1. If the employee is able, all efforts will be made to allow the employee to work remotely.
2. If the employee's position does not allow for remote work OR if resources are not available to
make remote work possible the employee may be placed on paid administrative leave for the
duration of the advised quarantine.
If an employee is diagnosed as having a contagious disease or illness that has been documented as a
potential or actual pandemic by the Responsible Authority:
1. If the employee is willing and able, all efforts will be made to allow the employee to work
remotely.
2. Accrued benefit time, or unpaid leave, must be used until the employee is cleared for return to
work, or per State and/or Federal Directives.
3. In the event of a pandemic disease or illness event as determined by the Responsible Authority,
employees who are exhibiting any of the signs or symptoms described by the responsible
authority must not report to work. Employees who report to work with any of these symptoms
may be sent home and required to use benefit time, or unpaid leave if the employee has no
accrued paid time off, or per State and/or Federal Directives.
If an employee's minor child(ren)'s school or daycare is closed for an unplanned extended period.
1. All efforts will be made to allow for a flexible schedule and remote work.
2. If a flexible schedule or remote work are not available, the employee must use accrued benefit
time to care for their child(ren), or per State and/or Federal Directives.
H. Command Structure
To ensure the continuity of City government, Director of Emergency Management, in cooperation with
the City Administrator, may implement the National Incident Management System (NIMS) structure and
activate the Emergency Operations Center (EOC). This system may include:
1. 24-hour answering service to provide vital information to the citizens and communicate
instructions to employees.
2. Operate an On -call supervisor, or Incident Commander, who will have the authority to schedule
employees, develop organizational response priorities, and direct work activities of any City
department.
3. Working collaboratively with the State of Minnesota and Wright County EOC's.
CITY OF ALBERTVILLE
WRIGHT COUNTY, MINNESOTA
PROCLAMATION NO.20-20
DECLARING A LOCAL EMERGENCY
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Albertville (the "Council") finds that under
the authority provided by Chapter 12 and related laws of the State of Minnesota, the following
situation (the "Situation") exists:
Peace Time Emergency Due to COVID 19 Health Pandemic
AND WHEREAS, the Governor has issued Executive Order 20-01 declaring a peace
time emergency and coordinating Minnesota's Strategy to Protect Minnesotans from COVID-19
(attached); and
WHEREAS, the Governor has issued Executive Order 20-20 Directing Minnesotans to
Stay Home to protect Minnesotans from COVID-19 (attached); and
WHEREAS, the Council finds that the Situation presents a combination of
circumstances that are sudden and could not have been anticipated; and
WHEREAS, the City's Emergency Management Committee has met and recommends
authorization of the City's Continuity of Operations Plan and Pandemic Emergency Response
Plan (both attached);
NOW, THEREFORE, the Council declares this Situation to be a local emergency.
This declaration of a local emergency will authorize and invoke the attached Continuity
of Operations Plan and the Pandemic Emergency Response Plan and city policies that are
necessary for response to the emergency. To the extent that normal state laws and city policies
and procedures impede an efficient response or compliance with federal and state directives or
recommendations, the City Administrator, Director of Emergency Management, and designees
are hereby authorized to suspend compliance with those laws, policies and procedures as
authorized by the Governor's Declaration and M.S. § 12.32, and to take those actions deemed
necessary to protect the public health and safety.
Jillian Hendrickson, Mayor
ATTEST:
Mike Couri, City Attorney
CITY OF ALBERTVILLE
COUNTY OF WRIGHT
STATE OF MINNESOTA
RESOLUTION NO.2020-XX
A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING PAID ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE
WHEREAS, it is the policy of the Albertville City Council to authorize salaries and benefits for
employees; and
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Albertville has issued Proclamation No. 20-20
declaring a local emergency; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of Albertville, Minnesota,
authorizes the City Administrator to implement paid administrative leave with the discretion
afforded therein and consistent within the adopted budget effective March 16, 2020:
Approved by the City Council of the City Albertville this 6th day of April 2020.
Jillian Hendrickson, Mayor
ATTEST:
Mike Couri, City Attorney