06-22-2020-R - Laserfiche WebLink

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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—MAY 1812020 8 Councilmember Holmes asked about seasonal staff taking their breaks inside with the other staff in hot weather. Public Works Director/City Engineer Blomstrom said in an effort to reduce the number of employees at the Public Works facility they would try to keep seasonal staff in the field for breaks provided the weather was cooperative, but they would make accommodations on very hot days so they could come into a climate-controlled area for lunch. He can provide a schedule of lunch times. Discussion ensued regarding the area mower and truck operations. Councilmember Holmes wondered if the Public Works staff should wear a mask when less than six feet from each other. Public Works Director/City Engineer Blomstrom said the plan could be amended to state that. Councilmember Holden felt summer hours for office staff should be foregone. Mayor Grant said they should discuss if staff should come back to the office. Councilmember Holmes said the Governor's plan still says staff should work from home if they can. City Administrator Perrault noted that one metric some cities are using to bring staff back is when retail operations are allowed to continue. As of May 18, retail is allowed at 50% capacity, and some cities are reopening their doors to the public and/or having staff come back per normal. Mayor Grant felt they may have to forego summer hours but he did see staff back in the office but how much and when he didn't know. Councilmember Scott agreed to dispense with summer hours but wondered about opening the front desk, at least partially. He proposed having customers coming into City Hall wear a mask. Mayor Grant the decision may need to be left to the City Administrator with the general direction of encouraging more people to come into the office starting June 1. Councilmember Holden said the City Administrator should figure out what he needs and decide who he needs in the office regardless of how some staff feel about coming back. Administrator Perrault indicated that during the Stay at Home and Safe at Home time periods there haven't been any complaints about City Hall being closed but he thought once the order gets lifted we may see complaints. Retail opening may not be a good metric but he thinks people will see it as having more freedom to move around and feel they should be able to enter public buildings. From his perspective more staff could be rotated in more frequently. If Council has a hard date when they would like full staff back or the doors open he would like that direction. Councilmember Holmes thought they could bring more staff back only if we open the doors.