Loading...
2020 03 19 CC Minutes, SpecialMINUTES OF THE SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN MARCH 19, 2020 The City Council of the City of Baytown, Texas, met in a Special Meeting on Thursday, March 19, 2020, at 4:30 P.M. in the Baytown Conference Room, Baytown City Hall, 2401 Market Street, Baytown, Texas with the following in attendance: Laura Alvarado Mayor Pro Tern Chris Presley Council Member Charles Johnson Council Member Heather Betancourth Council Member Robert Hoskins Council Member David Himsel Council Member Brandon Capetillo Mayor Rick Davis City Manager Ignacio Ramirez City Attorney Leticia Brysch City Clerk Mayor Capetillo convened the March 19, 2020, City Council Special Meeting with a quorum present at 4:30 P.M., all members were present with the exception of Council Member Johnson who arrived at 4:50 P.M. 1. PROPOSED ORDINANCES a. Consider an ordinance extending the Declaration of Local Disaster and any orders, rules, and regulations issued by the Mayor pursuant thereto. Mayor Capetillo noted that this proposed ordinance extends the Declaration of Local Disaster, which he issued on March 13, 2020. He noted that this ordinance would keep the declaration in place until such time as it is revoked by the City Council. Mayor Capetillo noted that while there have been many orders; such as curfews, closing of businesses, etc. that have been issued by other entities, the City of Baytown has issued no such orders. Mayor Capetillo further clarified that the item being approved does not include any additional orders, rules or regulations and is simply the extension of the existing declaration of local disaster. Mayor Capetillo asked if the City already had a juvenile curfew in place. City Attorney Ignacio Ramirez Sr. noted that the City already has such a curfew in place and no other order related to this item is required at this time. In response to a question from Council Member Hoskins regarding whether or not the testing site at Stallworth Stadium was open to everyone or just residents of Hams County, it was noted that City Council Special Meeting Minutes March 19, 2020 Page 2 of 3 since the funding for the testing site was federal, the site should be open to everyone, but that staff would confirm this item with the county. City Manager Rick Davis noted that the testing site is still being set-up and staff has no confirmed date for them to begin testing. Mayor Capetillo recommended, if they have not already done so, that all members of the council take the NIMS, FEMA training for public officials in disasters; he found it to be very helpful as he deals with the present situation. The Council discussed the types of information that needs to be put out to the public, while understanding that a lot of information pertains to the decisions of other governmental entities; such as Harris County and City of Houston. Mayor Capetillo noted that it is important to note that the City does not have any numbers or the locations of infected COVID-19 cases as the County does not report that information to the City for a number of reasons. Council discussed the type of information that should be put out to the public. Council Member Hoskins noted that he felt it was important to let the public know what the City and its departments were doing to take care of its community. Council Members Johnson asked if COVID-19 could be transmitted by animals, staff noted that at this time there are no confirmed cases of animals transmitting the virus to humans or vice versa. Council Member Presley asked if Animal Control had changed its operations and if it was still picking up animals. Mr. Davis noted that while the Animal Control Facility could have limited its operations to deal with the COVID-19 disaster, staff was still picking -up animals. A motion was made by Council Member Robert C. Hoskins, and seconded by Mayor Pro Tern Laura Alvarado made a motion to approve Ordinance No. 14,355, related to item La. The vote was as follows: Ayes: Mayor Brandon Capetillo, Mayor Pro Tom Laum Alvarado, Council Member Chris Presley, Council Member Charles Johnson, Council Member Heather Betancourth, Council Member Robert C. Hoskins, and Council Member David Himsel Nays: None Approved ORDINANCE NO. 14,355 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN, TEXAS, EXTENDING AND RENEWING THE DECLARATION OF LOCAL DISASTER AS WELL AS ALL ORDERS, RULES, AND REGULATIONS ISSUED PURSUANT THERETO; PROVIDING NOTICE; PROVIDING SEVERABILITY; AND PROVIDING FOR THE EFFECTIVE DATE THEREOF. City Council Special Meeting Mmutes March 19, 2020 Page 3 of 3 2. MANAGER'S REPORT City Manager Rick Davis stated that the City's Public Affairs Department is working diligently to ensure that accurate information related to the City is being disseminated to citizens via the website, phone calls, Facebook and YouTubc messaging, Channel 16, etc. He noted that Council Member Alvarado will be providing the information in Spanish for the Baytown community, which will be most helpful to the Spanish speaking citizens. He further noted that staff will begin looking at departmental plans in case offices are to be closed to the public for the next few weeks. He also noted that staff is beginning to look at how this disaster is going to impact the City's current and proposed budgets. Mr. Davis noted that he will continue to send out situational reports to keep Council informed of what is happening, and reiterated that staff will only send out information that it can verify and control. 3. ADJOURN With there being no further business to discuss, Mayor Capetillo adjourned the March 19, 2020, City Council Special Meeting at 5:01 P.M. f• r':i�- r�-0 Leticia Brysch, City Cm.`,� City of Baytown -i \