City Council Minutes 2020 04 07 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

City Council Meeting Minutes April 7, 2020 Page 7 of 12 Mayor Stolzmann introduced the item. City Attorney Kelly stated that in March in response to facility closure due to Covid-19 the Council changed it Rules of Procedure to authorize the Council to meet electronically. On April 7, the Council also authorized other City boards and commissions to meet electronically as well. However, neither the City Council nor any boards may hold quasi-judicial hearings electronically. If approved this resolution would allow the Council to do three things: 1. amend the City Council Rules of Procedure to allow the City Council to hold quasi- judicial hearings at electronic meetings if it finds “the nature and expected duration of a health epidemic or pandemic or other state of emergency affecting the City is or will be extraordinary” and procedures have been adopted by Resolution; 2. make the finding required by the City Council Rules of Procedure, that the COVID- 19 Pandemic is extraordinary because current information indicates the City Council and appointed bodies may not be able to meet in person for an extended period of time; and 3. authorizes the City Council and appointed bodies to hold quasi-judicial hearings at meetings held by electronic means according to the procedures set forth in the Resolution. The procedures in the resolution are designed to satisfy constitutional due process requirements of notice and a fair hearing before an impartial decision-making body and procedures have been drafted to provide some administrative flexibility moving forward. Electronic quasi-judicial hearings will be optional at the request of the applicant and applicants will be required to acknowledge the legal risk involved and agree to proceed electronically at their own risk. Those applicants must also agree to defend and indemnify the City in case of any legal challenge arising from holding the hearing electronically. This specifically covers applications under the City’s zoning code. If an applicant does not want to take the risk, or will not agree to the conditions in the Resolution, the matter will not be scheduled until an in-person hearing can provided. Also, if at any point there are technical or other challenges that make it no longer feasible or prudent to hold the hearing electronically, the City Manager or their designee can vacate the electronic hearing. City Attorney Kelly noted residents have raised concerns with the resolution relating to the constitutional processes for referendum. City Attorney Kelly noted this is a valid concern as the referendum process does include zoning and rezoning applications and if a resident wants to move forward with a referendum it would require an in-person signature gathering process. In response to that concern, Council could amend the resolution to state that those matters subject to the referendum process cannot be heard by the Council in an electronic meeting. This would allow most routine business to move forward. There are