Greetings from Mayor Whalen!
On Monday, March 23rd I issued a Local Emergency Declaration for our city due to the Corona Virus (Covid-19) pandemic. In order for this declaration to be in effect for longer than the three days allowed by State Statute, the City Council needs to approve extending the declaration by resolution, which we did at our Council Meeting this past Monday. The Council Meeting was conducted via phone and all and all it went quite well.
During the Council meeting we had discussion on the declaration. We heard from our Police Chief/Director of Emergency Management, Paul Falls and our city attorney, David Anderson. Both highly recommended extending the notice until further notice. The Council agreed on a 5-0 vote.
So what does this Declaration mean for our city?
An emergency declaration allows a city government to operate outside of normal processes in order to respond quickly to situations that may arise due to the emergency event. It’s common to experience unforeseen expenses or situations that either exceed or are outside the normal budgeted items and need immediate attention.
One example might be if a significant number of our staff were to become ill with Covid-19 we would have the ability to put healthy staff on over-time to fill shifts until enough staff recover and return to work. With this declaration we also position ourselves for Federal reimbursement dollars should they become available.We are not unique. We have seen Emergency Declarations at all levels of Government from Federal to State all the way down to the Local level.
We are researching ways in order to be able to have the public listen in live to future Council Meetings if they want to. We will be posting the voice recorded meeting on our website in case you are not available on the day and time of the meeting.
Our staff is continuing to work full-time, most from home or through an adjusted work schedule. We will have a few staff members at city hall but have eliminated face to face contact with the public.Please call or email city staff if you have questions or need forms or additional information. We are still providing building inspections and of course continue to provide police and fire protection as those are essential services.
Unfortunately due to all the uncertainties right now we made the decision to cancel both the Saturday, May 9th Clean-Up Day and the Saturday, May, 16th Trista Day Event. We hope to reschedule the Clean-Up Day to a date in the fall, but no date has been set at this time.
Lastly if you are fortunate enough to have enough please consider making a donation to our local Westonka Food Shelf and WECAN. These are 2 organizations that are helping many people in our community during these trying times. Both have websites and drop off locations in Mound.
WECAN: (952) 472-0742
Westonka Food Shelf: ((952) 472-5599
Stay Safe and Healthy. Keep your distance.
Your Mayor,
Lisa Whalen
Recently I attended a Leadership Conference, and it occurred to me that many of our residents may not know everything that the Mayor and City Council Members do in addition to our twice per month Council meetings. It may be a lot more of a time commitment than you would think.
At our last meeting in December the Council approved a budget and levy for 2020.
Happy New Year! Hopefully you had a wonderful holiday season and have gotten off to a good start in 2020.
