City Council Meeting Date: January 18, 2022
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Ben Martig, City Administrator
Mark Elliott, Police Chief
Title
Consideration of Emergency Ordinance Requiring Face Coverings in Indoor Spaces of Public Accommodation.
Body
Action Requested:
The Northfield City Council may consider an Emergency Ordinance Requiring Face Coverings in Indoor Spaces of Public Accommodation.
* In accordance with City Charter 4.8 this will require at least five members of the council to be approved.
Summary Report:
City Councilor Reister submitted a request to consider an immediate mandated community-wide indoor mask mandate in light of the current state of the pandemic. Council Reister’s request is attached. Other City Councilors had inquired on the topic and interest exploring this.
Both the CDC and the MDH have guidance recommending masking when the level of community transmission rates are at the substantial or high level. Neither the federal or state have masking mandates, but rather recommend masking leaving local officials to decide on mandates.
Several cities have enacted public mask mandates including the cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis and suburbs of Golden Valley and Hopkins. These mandates generally require all people, vaccinated and unvaccinated to wear a mask in indoor public spaces.
The City of Bloomington recently addressed the topic of citywide masking based on information from Dr. Kelly and staff at the Bloomington Public Health Department. The less severe, but highly transmissible Omicron variant has driven higher infection rates. Recommendations from CDC and MDH were encouraged in order to limit transmission and severity through vaccinations and masking when appropriate. There was no city wide masking mandate put in place. Local leaders in Bloomington passed a resolution last week encouraging, but not requiring, residents and visitors to wear masks and follow other CDC and state health guidance on curbing COVID.
The City of Edina also had Dr. Kelly of the Bloomington Public Health Department present to them on this topic as well. Edina has contracted for public health services with Bloomington. The City of Edina, like Bloomington, declined to adopt a mask mandate.
Governor Tim Walz has said he's not going to issue a statewide mask mandate at this time because he doesn't believe enough people will follow it to make a difference.
In reviewing cities that had discussions but did not put mandates in place the most frequently raised topics were feeling many would not follow the mandate and that of not wanting to burden an already stressed business economy facing staffing shortages with having to be the enforcement arm of a city mandate.
Many cities have increased their public messaging strongly encouraging masking and in getting vaccinated and asking for compliance with the recommendations of the CDC and MDH.
Staff is developing a more detailed COVID-19 situational update including more information for the meeting as well as developing options for action dependent on interest of the Council. This information will provided as supplemental information prior to the meeting.
The following is the: reference to City Charter 4.8 related to emergency ordinances
Section 4.8. - Emergency Ordinances.
An emergency ordinance is an ordinance necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, morals, safety or welfare in which the emergency is defined and declared in a preamble thereto, and shall be adopted by an affirmative vote of at least five members of the council. No prosecution shall be based upon the provisions of any emergency ordinance until twenty-four hours after the ordinance has been filed with the city clerk and posted in three conspicuous places or until the ordinance has been published, unless the person charged with violation has actual notice of the passage of the ordinance prior to the act or omission complained of.
(Ord. No. 739, § 4.8, 11-6-2000; Ord. No. 863, 7-9-2007)
Alternative Options:
Council may discuss establishing a mandate with related details, or not.
Financial Impacts:
Not available.
Tentative Timelines:
The request is for an immediate ordinance.