HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-23-2020 Determination for Electronic Meetings
Mayor
Donna Schmitt
Councilmembers
Robert A. Williams
John Murzyn Jr.
Connie Buesgens
Nick Novitsky
City Manager
Kelli Bourgeois
City of Columbia Heights
590 40th Avenue NE, Columbia Heights, MN 55421-3878 (763) 706-3600 TDD (763) 706-3692
Visit our website at: www.columbiaheightsmn.gov
March 23, 2020
Re: Determination that In-Person Meetings are not Practical or Prudent Because of a Health Pandemic or
Emergency
To: All Interested Parties:
The coronavirus (COVID-19) has been declared a health pandemic and national, state, and local
emergencies have been declared. As a result, as the City of Columbia Height’s Chief Administrative Officer and
the Executive Director of the Columbia Heights Economic Development Authority, I am declaring that it is not
practical or prudent to hold Columbia Heights City Council, Economic Development Authority, and all other
Commission meetings solely in person until such time as the State of Minnesota is determined to no longer be
in a state of emergency or this determination is terminated sooner by action on behalf of the City of Columbia
Heights . The basis for this determination is as follows:
• On January 31, 2020, the Secretary of the U.S. Health and Human Services declared a public
health emergency in response to COVID-19;
• On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognized the global outbreak
COVID-19 as a pandemic;
• On March 13, 2020, President Donald J. Trump proclaimed the outbreak of COVID-19 in the
United States a national emergency; and
• On March 13, 2020, Governor Timothy J. Walz issued Executive Order 20-01 under Minn. Stat.
Ch. 12 declaring the outbreak of COVID-19 in Minnesota a peacetime emergency. On March 16,
2020, the Minnesota Executive Council extended Executive Order 20-01 for 30 days.
Pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 13D.021, meetings of a public body subject to Minnesota’s Open Meeting
Law may be conducted by telephone or other electronic means if the Commission’s “presiding officer, chief
legal counsel, or chief administrative officer . . . determines that an in-person meeting or a meeting conducted
under [Minn. Stat. §] 13D.02 is not practical or prudent because of a health pandemic or an emergency
declared under [Minn. Stat. Ch.] 12.” While this determination is effective, all Columbia Heights City Council,
Economic Development Authority, and all other Commission meetings may be conducted by telephone or
other electronic means.
Sincerely,
Kelli Bourgeois
City Manager/Economic Development Authority Executive Director