City Council Minutes 2021 08 17 - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Council Meeting Minutes August 17, 2021 Page 3 of 12 Staff requests further direction as to whether City Council would like to: 1) provide an emergency ordinance at a future meeting for indoor masking city wide; 2) direct the City Manager to require masking indoors at city facilities, which would be more restrictive than the current BCPH Public Health Order; 3) continue to strongly suggest masking indoors throughout the City but not have a requirement beyond the current BCPH Public Health Order. Public Comments RJ Harrington, 457 East Raintree Court, encouraged Council to consider a new mask ordinance in town to better protect everyone. Mayor Stolzmann stated it seems the message about encouraging people to wear masks has not brought a good response from all staff and patrons in our buildings. If we truly want people to wear masks in our facilities we may need to require it. Councilmember Brown stated he is concerned that the transmission rate is now in the "high" category and he would support a mask mandate in city facilities to protect city staff. Councilmember Lipton asked if the City is considering a vaccine mandate for City staff. City Manager Balser stated it is under consideration. Mayor Pro Tern Maloney asked if staff is considering also lowering facility capacity levels. City Manager Balser stated that currently changes to capacity limits are not being considered. Councilmember Leh stated he supports requiring masks in City facilities. Councilmember Fahey agreed. Mayor Stolzmann stated it is disappointing to be where we are. We have a very high vaccination rate but we have to address the spread of the Delta variant. Councilmember Lipton stated he would want to have conversations with the business community before considering a city-wide mask mandate. Mayor Pro Tern Maloney stated he supports masking in City buildings and would like to have a metric associated with it that would trigger the rescinding of that rule. MOTION: Councilmember Brown moved to direct the City Manager to require masking inside all city facilities for patrons and staff and have staff bring back an ordinance requiring masking city-wide for council consideration. Councilmember Fahey seconded. Council asked that BCPH provide an update to Council at a future meeting.