Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout01. 20-412 OCTOBER 13, 2020 20-412 ORDINANCE FIRST READING (CARRIED 6-0 LOST LAID OVER WITHDRAWN ) AS AMENDED PURPOSE: AMEND RULES PERTAINING TO COUNCIL, BOARD AND COMMISSION MEETINGS IN RESPONSE TO COVID-19 CORONAVIRUS EMERGENCY FOR REMOTE PARTICIPATION AT MEETINGS INITIATED BY: CITY ADMINISTRATION Whereas, the Common Council for the City of Oshkosh amended its rules pertaining to Council, Board and Commission Meetings by Ordinance 20-104 on March 24, 2020;Ordinance 20-185 on April 28, 2020 and Ordinance 20-340 on August 12, 2020 to prevent exposure to and spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus during the period covered by the COVID-19 Emergency Declarations; and Whereas, the Common Council after further review desires to implement certain amendments to those rules to require remote participation in public meetings when, in the determination of the City Manager, it is reasonable and necessary to limit in person participation for the protection of the public, city officials and city employees. Now, Therefore, the Common Council of the City of Oshkosh do ordain as follows: Notwithstanding any provision contained within the City of Oshkosh Municipal Code, Council Rules or Oshkosh Board and Commission General Rules of Order, during the period of emergency in response to COVID-19 Coronavirus, the Council adopts the following rules and procedures: Meeting rooms will comply with the current social distancing requirements and recommendations. Persons are encouraged to submit written comments as an alternative to in person statements in relation to agenda items. Written comments for Council meetings may be sent via mail addressed to the City Manager, placed in the City Hall dropbox, or sent by email prior to the Council Meeting to citymgr@ci.oshkosh.wi.us. Written comments for Board or Commission Meetings may OCTOBER 13, 2020 20-412 ORDINANCE FIRST READING CONT'D be sent via mail or emailed to the appropriate Board or Commission or placed in the City Hall dropbox. Contact information for Boards and Commissions is available on the City website: www.ci.oshkosh.wi.us. Written comments will be distributed to the Council/Board/Commission and made part of the public record of the meeting. When practicable, public meetings will be made available live on GOV TV in the City of Oshkosh, live streamed on oshkoshmedia.org, live on WOCT radio station 101.9 fm, live through Roku, Apple TV and Amazon Fire Stick. When in the determination of the City Manager, it is reasonable and necessary to limit in person participation for the protection of the public, city officials and city employees; the City Manager may require remote participation in public meetings of the Council,Boards and Commissions in accordance with the rules set forth below for remote participation. Meetings may be conducted utilizing Remote Means. "Remote Means or Remote Participation" shall mean participation by a member of a public body or member of the public in a meeting of that public body, simultaneously with the physical meeting, where the member is not physically present at the meeting. Remote Participation includes by members or the public through video, telephone, computer or other means where persons are permitted to view, listen to and participate in the meeting without having a physical presence at a defined physical meeting location. If a meeting is conducted solely by Remote Means and there is no physical meeting location or the public is otherwise excluded from being present at a physical meeting location, the public must be afforded an opportunity to live access the meeting and instructions shall be provided how to do so. This may include live broadcast or streaming as provided above,video or call-in participation, or other adequate means to provide live access to the public meeting. Where public comment or participation is required by law, adequate means must be provided to accommodate such participation. Persons requiring reasonable accommodations as an alternative to any method identified on meeting agendas, may contact the office of the City Manager in regard to participation in the Council meeting at citymgr@ci.oshkosh.wi.us, or by phone 920-236- 5002 or the designated board or commission staff member for a particular board or commission. OCTOBER 13, 2020 20-412 ORDINANCE FIRST READING CONT'D Staff shall work with members of the Council, Boards and Commissions during the emergency period to facilitate appearance by Remote Means when necessary consistent with the following: o Meeting rooms must have adequate audio, video and other technological facilities to allow for virtual participation. o Members must contact the staff liaison (or City Manager for Council Members) to inform the staff liaison of the need for Remote Participation in a meeting as soon as practicable to assure that Remote Participation may be facilitated. o Any member requesting to participate by Remote Means will be accommodated regardless of whether a quorum is physically or otherwise remotely present at the meeting. o Members participating by Remote Means must be audible through clear telephone line or computer connections. If a connection is not clear or causes disruption of the meeting, the connection may be terminated at the discretion of the Mayor or Presiding Member or their designee. If a connection is terminated and this causes the loss of a quorum, the meeting shall be adjourned and rescheduled to another date to permit consideration by a quorum. o All votes shall require a roll call vote -no "all in favor" o Each person speaking must introduce themselves or be called upon by the Chair or Secretary to provide clarity to those listening as to who is speaking. During this period, staff shall work to facilitate appearance by Remote Means by individual members of the public when requested, consistent with the following: Persons requesting to participate by Remote Means will be accommodated when reasonably possible. If accommodation is not reasonably possible, persons shall be informed as soon as practicable and provided with the opportunity to participate in person or through email or written correspondence as provided above. OCTOBER 13, 2020 20-412 ORDINANCE FIRST READING CONT'D o In order to accommodate participation by Remote Means, a meeting link will be provided on the meeting agenda. For meetings where participation by the public by Remote Means is requested, public comment on all agenda items shall be taken at the beginning of the meeting, except as necessary to conduct Public Hearings or as may be accommodated at the direction of the Council, or Board or Commission. Public comment may be closed at the end of any public comment period and persons participating by Remote means shall not interrupt or disrupt the business of the governing body. o Persons wishing to provide public comment on agenda items by Remote Means must sign up to speak through the City's website or the Connect Oshkosh App and must participate through the City's meeting link as published on the meeting agenda. Persons wishing to provide public comment who have signed up to speak must join the meeting at least 15 minutes prior to the start of the meeting to allow staff to test the audio/video set up. Attendees must stay muted when not speaking and are responsible for muting and unmuting themselves in a timely fashion when called upon to speak. o Each member of the public speaking must wait to be called upon by the Chair or Secretary and must provide their name and address to provide clarity to those listening as to who is speaking. o Persons providing public comment by Remote Means must be audible through clear telephone line or computer connections. If a connection is not clear or causes disruption of the meeting or the person causes disruption to the meeting by speaking out of turn or otherwise causing a disturbance or disruption of the meeting, the connection may be terminated at the discretion of the Mayor or Presiding Member or their designee. o Persons wishing to participate by Remote Means should be advised via meeting agendas or other means that participation by remote means may be limited by number of participants and available technology, and may be disrupted by problems such as breakdowns of equipment and fluctuation or interruption of electric power or communications networks. The City of Oshkosh does not guarantee that even if persons have been afforded the opportunity to appear by Remote Means that telephone, computer, wifi or other connections will be sufficient or that the person will be guaranteed the ability to appear by this method. OCTOBER 13, 2020 20-412 ORDINANCE FIRST READING CONT'D All provisions of the City Ordinances, Council Rules and Commission General Rules of Order not specifically altered by these temporary rules shall remain in effect. This ordinance shall take effect immediately and shall remain in effect during the period of emergency as declared by the Common Council. Publication Notice Please take notice that the City of Oshkosh enacted ordinance #20-412 AMEND RULES PERTAINING TO COUNCIL, BOARD AND COMMISSION MEETINGS IN RESPONSE TO COVID-19 CORONAVIRUS EMERGENCY FOR REMOTE PARTICIPATION AT MEETINGS on October 13, 2020. The ordinance modifies ordinances and council, board and commission rules to allow the City Manager to limit in person participation in public meetings of the Council, Boards and Commissions when it is reasonable and necessary for the protection of the public, city officials and city employees in response to the COVID- 19 Coronavirus Public Health Emergency. The ordinance includes options and requirements for remote participation and provides a means for requesting reasonable accommodation if necessary. The full text of the ordinance may be obtained at the Office of the City Clerk, 215 Church Avenue and through the City's website at www.ci.oshkosh.wi.us. Clerk's phone: 920/236-5011. Bold & Italics Indicates Amendment i njA t'7 Q{ Oshkosh TO: Mayor and Members of the Common Council FROM: Lynn A. Lorenson, City Attorney DATE: October 8, 2020 RE: Amend Rules Pertaining to Council, Board and Commission Meetings in Response to COVID-19 Coronavirus Emergency for Remote Participation at Meetings BACKGROUND The Council amended the rules pertaining to Council, Board and Commission Meetings by Ordinance 20-104 on March 24, 2020; Ordinance 20-185 on April 28, 2020 and Ordinance 20-340 on August 12, 2020 to prevent exposure to and spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus during the period covered by the COVID-19 Emergency Declarations. Previous amendments allowed for remote participation by Council, board and commission members and the public, but did not require it. Given the recent increase in COVID-19 cases in the local area, the City Manager proposed an amendment to the current Council Rules to limit in person participation by requiring remote participation at Council, Board and Commission Meetings when it is reasonable and necessary for the protection of the public; council, board and commission members; and staff. Because conditions have been sometimes changing quickly, the proposed ordinance leaves the determination to the City Manager to allow for review of the most current conditions and allows the City Manager to promptly respond to conditions as reasonable and necessary. ANALYSIS State law pertaining to open meetings and accommodation of the public allows Council to make reasonable rules governing meetings so long as governmental meetings comply with statutory requirements that meetings be held in places 'reasonably accessible' to members of the public. The Wisconsin Department of Justice has longstanding advice that recognizes that governmental bodies typically can meet their open meetings obligations, by conducting meetings via telephone conference calls and video conference calls if the public is provided with City Hall, 215 Church Avenue P.O. Box 1130 Oshkosh, WI 54903-1130 920.236.5000 http://w .ci.oshkosh.wi.us an effective way to monitor such calls. In addition, when required by law to allow public comment (public hearings) and if a municipality generally permits public comment, the public must be provided reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The City provides several means by which this is accomplished. The City of Oshkosh currently uses the WebEx system to allow for member and public participation remotely in meetings. In addition, if the meeting is televised live, the City provides live broadcast on GovTV in the City of Oshkosh, live streaming on oshkoshmedia.org, live broadcast on WOCT radio station 101.9 fm, and live through Roku, Apple TV and Amazon Fire Stick. If adopted, the ordinance will allow the City Manager to limit in person participation at Council, Board and Commission Meetings when it is reasonable and necessary for the protection of the public; council, board and commission members; and staff in response to the COVID-19 emergency. Currently the City permits but does not require remote participation at public meetings. As with past amendments, we have incorporated all current rules into the proposed ordinance rather than requiring someone who wishes to see the current rules to look at and piece together multiple amendments. Attached is a highlighted copy of the proposed ordinance, highlighting the portions that were changed in the current version. In addition to the change allowing the City Manager to require remote participation in meetings, 2 additional provisions are highlighted for council review. The first is the provision limiting general comment, which was mentioned by Council Member Mugerauer at the last Council meeting. This provision is highlighted simply to draw it to Council's attention. An amendment could be proposed to delete this provision if desired. Second is a provision requiring the chairperson (or other person running the meeting) to actually be physically present with staff for remote meetings. This provision is deleted in the porposed ordinance. When the City initially provided for remote meetings, staff believed this was necessary to facilitate an efficient meeting. Upon further review and experience with remote participation in meetings, staff no longer believes this provision to be necessary. FISCAL IMPACT There is no anticipated financial impact associated with these amendments. City Hall, 215 Church Avenue P.O. Box 1130 Oshkosh, WI 54903-1130 920.236.5000 http://w .ci.oshkosh.wi.us RECOMMENDATION Staff Recommends waiving the rules and passing the ordinance as proposed with potential amendments noted above as may be determined by Council. Respectfully Submitted, �1 L A.Lorenson City Attorney Approved: Mark A. Rohloff City Manager City Hall, 215 Church Avenue P.O. Box 1130 Oshkosh, WI 54903-1130 920.236.5000 http://www.ci.oshkosh.wi.us OCTOBER 13, 2020 20-xxx ORDINANCE FIRST READING (CARRIED PURPOSE INITIATED BY: LOST LAID OVER WITHDRAWN ) AMEND RULES PERTAINING TO COUNCIL, BOARD AND COMMISSION MEETINGS IN RESPONSE TO COVID-19 CORONAVIRUS EMERGENCY FOR REMOTE PARTICIPATION AT MEETINGS CITY ADMINISTRATION Whereas, the Common Council for the City of Oshkosh amended its rules pertaining to Council, Board and Commission Meetings by Ordinance 20-104 on March 24, 2020; Ordinance 20-185 on April 28, 2020 and Ordinance 20-340 on August 12, 2020 to prevent exposure to and spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus during the period covered by the COVID-19 Emergency Declarations; and Whereas, the Common Council after further review desires to implement certain amendments to those rules to require remote participation in public meetings when, in the determination of the City Manager, it is reasonable and necessary to limit in person participation for the protection of the public, city officials and city employees. Now, Therefore, the Common Council of the City of Oshkosh do ordain as follows: Notwithstanding any provision contained within the City of Oshkosh Municipal Code, Council Rules or Oshkosh Board and Commission General Rules of Order, during the period of emergency in response to COVID-19 Coronavirus, the Council adopts the following rules and procedures: Meeting rooms will comply with the current social distancing requirements and recommendations. Persons are encouraged to submit written comments as an alternative to in person statements in relation to agenda items. There will be no general Citizen Statement or general Public Comment Period at Council Meetings, Board and Commission Meetings. Written comments for Council meetings may be sent via mail addressed to the City Manager, placed in the City Hall dropbox, or sent by email prior to the Council Meeting to cij)�mgr@ci.oshkosh.wi.us. Written comments for Board or Commission Meetings may OCTOBER 13, 2020 20-xxx ORDINANCE FIRST READING CONT'D be sent via mail or emailed to the appropriate Board or Commission or placed in the City Hall dropbox. Contact information for Boards and Commissions is available on the City website: www.ci.oshkosh.wi.us. Written comments will be distributed to the Council/Board/Commission and made part of the public record of the meeting. When practicable, public meetings will be made available live on GOV TV in the City of Oshkosh, live streamed on oshkoshmedia.org, live on WOCT radio station 101.9 fm, live through Roku, Apple TV and Amazon Fire Stick. When in the determination of the City Manager, it is reasonable and necessary to require limit in person participation for the protection of the public, city officials and city employees; the City Manager may require remote participation in public meetings of the Council, Boards and Commissions in accordance with the rules set forth below for remote participation. Meetings may be conducted utilizing Remote Means. "Remote Means or Remote Participation" shall mean participation by a member of a public body or member of the public in a meeting of that public body, simultaneously with the physical meeting, where the member is not physically present at the meeting. Remote Participation includes by members or the public through video, telephone, computer or other means where persons are permitted to view, listen to and participate in the meeting without having a physical presence at a defined physical meeting location. If a meeting is conducted solely by Remote Means and there is no physical meeting location or the public is otherwise excluded from being present at a physical meeting location, the public must be afforded an opportunity to live access the meeting and instructions shall be provided how to do so. This may include live broadcast or streaming as provided above, video or call -in participation, or other adequate means to provide live access to the public meeting. Where public comment or participation is required by law, adequate means must be provided to accommodate such participation. Persons requiring reasonable accommodations as an alternative to any method identified on meeting agendas, may contact the office of the City Manager in regard to participation in the Council meeting at cij)�mgr@ci.oshkosh.wi.us, or by phone 920-236- 5002 or the designated board or commission staff member for a particular board or commission. OCTOBER 13, 2020 20-xxx ORDINANCE FIRST READING CONT'D Staff shall work with members of the Council, Boards and Commissions during the emergency period to facilitate appearance by Remote Means when necessary consistent with the following: o eetiogs at w4; 4 RenB,,te 12 aftkitqatieff ist9ef+n4ted, (`4.,;,.,-.,,,.se (e f ,.+6 of +nefnbef r. 4e will be tiff g as !'6 aif e f toe ,n. tiff g _..4 t ffie ,frog_ Meeting rooms must have adequate audio, video and other technological facilities to allow for virtual participation. o Members must contact the staff liaison (or City Manager for Council Members) to inform the staff liaison of the need for Remote Participation in a meeting as soon as practicable to assure that Remote Participation may be facilitated. o Any member requesting to participate by Remote Means will be accommodated regardless of whether a quorum is physically or otherwise remotely present at the meeting. o Members participating by Remote Means must be audible through clear telephone line or computer connections. If a connection is not clear or causes disruption of the meeting, the connection may be terminated at the discretion of the Mayor or Presiding Member or their designee. If a connection is terminated and this causes the loss of a quorum, the meeting shall be adjourned and rescheduled to another date to permit consideration by a quorum. o All votes shall require a roll call vote - no "all in favor" o Each person speaking must introduce themselves or be called upon by the Chair or Secretary to provide clarity to those listening as to who is speaking. During this period, staff shall work to facilitate appearance by Remote Means by individual members of the public when requested, consistent with the following: Persons requesting to participate by Remote Means will be accommodated when reasonably possible. If accommodation is not reasonably possible, persons shall be informed as soon as practicable and provided with the opportunity to participate in person or through email or written correspondence as provided above. OCTOBER 13, 2020 20-xxx ORDINANCE FIRST READING CONT'D o In order to accommodate participation by Remote Means, a meeting link will be provided on the meeting agenda. For meetings where participation by the public by Remote Means is requested, public comment on all agenda items shall be taken at the beginning of the meeting, except as necessary to conduct Public Hearings or as may be accommodated at the direction of the Council, or Board or Commission. Public comment may be closed at the end of any public comment period and persons participating by Remote means shall not interrupt or disrupt the business of the governing body. o Persons wishing to provide public comment on agenda items by Remote Means must sign up to speak through the City's website or the Connect Oshkosh App and must participate through the City's meeting link as published on the meeting agenda. Persons wishing to provide public comment who have signed up to speak must join the meeting at least 15 minutes prior to the start of the meeting to allow staff to test the audio/video set up. Attendees must stay muted when not speaking and are responsible for muting and unmuting themselves in a timely fashion when called upon to speak. o Each member of the public speaking must wait to be called upon by the Chair or Secretary and must provide their name and address to provide clarity to those listening as to who is speaking. o Persons providing public comment by Remote Means must be audible through clear telephone line or computer connections. If a connection is not clear or causes disruption of the meeting or the person causes disruption to the meeting by speaking out of turn or otherwise causing a disturbance or disruption of the meeting, the connection may be terminated at the discretion of the Mayor or Presiding Member or their designee. o Persons wishing to participate by Remote Means should be advised via meeting agendas or other means that participation by remote means may be limited by number of participants and available technology, and may be disrupted by problems such as breakdowns of equipment and fluctuation or interruption of electric power or communications networks. The City of Oshkosh does not guarantee that even if persons have been afforded the opportunity to appear by Remote Means that telephone, computer, wifi or other connections will be sufficient or that the person will be guaranteed the ability to appear by this method. OCTOBER 13, 2020 20-xxx ORDINANCE FIRST READING CONT'D All provisions of the City Ordinances, Council Rules and Commission General Rules of Order not specifically altered by these temporary rules shall remain in effect. This ordinance shall take effect immediately and shall remain in effect during the period of emergency as declared by the Common Council. Publication Notice Please take notice that the City of Oshkosh enacted ordinance #20-xxx AMEND RULES PERTAINING TO COUNCIL, BOARD AND COMMISSION MEETINGS IN RESPONSE TO COVID-19 CORONAVIRUS EMERGENCY FOR REMOTE PARTICIPATION AT MEETINGS on October 13, 2020. The ordinance modifies ordinances and council, board and commission rules to allow the City Manager to limit in person participation in public meetings of the Council, Boards and Commissions when it is reasonable and necessary for the protection of the public, city officials and city employees in response to the COVID- 19 Coronavirus Public Health Emergency. The ordinance includes options and requirements for remote participation and provides a means for requesting reasonable accommodation if necessary. The full text of the ordinance may be obtained at the Office of the City Clerk, 215 Church Avenue and through the City's website at www.ci.oshkosh.wi.us. Clerk's phone: 920/236-5011.