O’Fallon City Council OKs disaster plan covering emergency situations in city
For a local emergency declaration, the O’Fallon City Council has approved granting additional authority related to COVID-19 goals.
Because of time constraints, at a special meeting March 23, the council passed both a first and second reading of an ordinance that would amend chapter 37 of the city’s code of ordinances, which is the Civil Emergencies Ordinance. Modifying it helps improve O’Fallon’s response to the coronavirus public health crisis.
The additions include flexibility for public meetings, gatherings and licensed activities, purchases, personnel policies, bargaining units, city facilities, ordinance violations, amounts due and owing the city, and other emergency powers as outlined in the municipal code.
Aldermen Jerry Albrecht and Tom Vorce voted no on the emergency declaration; alderman Chris Monroe was absent.
Both Albrecht and Vorce expressed concern the mayor was given too much power in the declaration.
The March 23 special meeting was a virtual interactive one and was available on the Zoom.com virtual platform instead of the city’s Video on Demand. It is not on those archives.
Attendees at City Hall included Mayor Herb Roach, City Clerk Jerry Mouser, Assistant City Administrator Grant Litteken, Budget Director Sandy Evans, and aldermen Albrecht, Nathan Parchman, Todd Roach, Ray Holden and Dan Witt.
Police Chief Van Hook, Captain Kirk Brueggeman and Captain Dave Matevey of the O’Fallon Police Department were also present.
Those attending remotely on Zoom included City Administrator Walter Denton, Human Resources Director April Mitchell, Deputy City Clerk Misty McDonald, Public Works Director Jeff Taylor, Community Development Director Ted Shekell, Assistant Director Justin Randall, and aldermen Jessica Lotz, Gwen Randolph, Matthew Gilreath, Dennis Muyleart, Mark Morton, Vorce, Ross Rosenberg and Kevin Hagarty.
Under state law and city ordinance, the mayor can declare an emergency at any time by proclamation.
The declaration of emergency was under the recommendation of St. Clair County to help improve the city’s response to COVID-19 and ensure O’Fallon is eligible to recover some costs associated with combating the pandemic.
“After discussions with our legal counsel and the St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency, I signed an Emergency Declaration for our city so that we can respond quickly to the changes that are coming down from the national and state agencies and so our city can potentially get reimbursed for emergency expenditures relating to the COVID-19,” Mayor Roach said.
Roach said the steps O’Fallon is taking has a financial impact on the city’s budget.
“With this emergency declaration, O’Fallon will now be eligible to recover some of those costs once we have defeated this virus.”
The declaration announced March 19 can be located at https://www.ofallon.org/home/files/declaration-of-emergency-regarding-covid-19.
In his March 30 column, the mayor thanked the council for their actions.
“Thanks to our city council for having confidence in me to grant me emergency powers to make quick changes in servicing our citizens if needed,” Roach said.
O’Fallon is a home rule city under the 1970 Illinois Constitution.
These are some of the specifics in the emergency declaration:
Section 1: City Council Meetings
Six council members or the mayor can call an audio or video conference via electronic means. They can be held, providing such notice to the public and media as is reasonable under the circumstances, and if possible, providing access to the public and including a means for public participation. All shall be considered “emergency meetings” under the law.
Section 3: Licensed or Permitted Activities
The mayor can suspend licenses or permits for special events or any other licenses or permits issued by the city if it could impact the public health or well-being of residents or visitors to the community, according to the mayor’s judgment.
Section 4: Purchases
The mayor or his designee may authorize a purchase reasonably related to the emergency, as long as funds are available. But it doesn’t have to follow formal requirements of Chapter 34.
Section 5: Personnel Policies
During the term of an emergency, the mayor or his designee can adjust any personnel policies related to leave time, other benefits or terms and conditions of employment as are reasonably related to providing sufficient staffing.
Section 8. Ordinance Violations
The city attorney is authorized to extend any timeframe for payment or filing related to city ordinance violations during the emergency.
Section 9. Amounts Due and Owing
Upon recommendation of Finance Director, can extend deadlines for payment related to any amounts due and owing to the city.
Section 10. Other Emergency Powers
That the Mayor may issue such orders, which shall have the force of law, as are provided for by Chapter 37 of the O’Fallon Municipal Code attached hereto as Exhibit A. Where applicable, such orders or regulations shall be reviewed and approved by the City Council at the next Council meeting after issuance of such order. This includes property, housing, meetings.
Closing businesses, streets, public parks and others listed.
He can suspend or modify, but not more than 60 days, ordinances or regulations regulating health, safety and zoning.
Direct evacuation of all or part of the population from any threatened areas, if necessary, for the preservation of life, property or other disaster or emergency mitigation, response or recovery.
Approve application for local, state, or federal assistance.
Establish and control routes of transportation, ingress or egress.
Accept services, gifts, grants, loans, equipment, supplies, and/or materials used for disaster relief whether from private, nonprofit, or governmental sources.
Close or cancel the use of any municipally owned or operated building or other public facility.
Declare, issue, enforce, modify and terminate orders for quarantine and isolation of persons or animals posing a threat to the public, not conflicting with the directions of the Director of Public Safety.
That in the absence or incapacity of the Mayor, the Mayor may delegate such powers to the emergency interim successor who may take such actions as are provided in the emergency disaster declaration.
City began restricting services in mid-March
Since mid-March, the city has restricted services and changed procedures to help stop the spread of COVID-19, which public health crisis caused by the spread of the coronavirus, which has impacted every state in the U.S. and more than 151 countries worldwide.
Recognized as a pandemic by the World Health Organization, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker issued an emergency disaster proclamation on March 9 to mitigate the potential effects of COVID-19, “a novel severe acute respiratory illness that can spread among people through respiratory transmissions and present with symptoms similar to those of influenza.”
This gave the state Emergency Management Agency and the state Department of Public Health significant authority and emergency powers relative to isolation and quarantine orders.
Any orders from the Illinois Department of Public Health at this time must be enforced by local officials. Under law, if they do not, IDPH may enforce such measures and all necessary expenses incurred would be paid by the locality for which services are rendered.
Two weeks ago, President Trump officially declared a national emergency over the Coronavirus Pandemic. This will allow up $50 billion of federal aid for state and local governments.
On March 20, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued an executive order requiring all Illinoisans to stay in their homes to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus. That took effect at 5 p.m. March 21. On Sunday, the president recommended social distancing for another month, through April 30.
The state order prohibits things like visiting the homes of friends and holding gatherings of any size and closes all nonessential establishments, including most retail, recreation and entertainment businesses. It does not prohibit essential activities like going to the grocery store, receiving medical care, or taking your pet for a walk.
April 6 City Council Meeting
“Our city council is learning how to deal with a completely new way of holding meetings and getting city work done,” Roach said.
The city will host other city meetings on Zoom in order to improve efficiency and transparency during the pandemic, including the April 6 meeting. This will allow members of the public to participate while they are not able to attend in-person because of the City Hall closure.
Roach said O’Fallon City Hall is currently closed to the public in order to help mitigate the spread of the disease to protect residents, but staff continue to provide essential city services to the community.
“We are doing everything we can to help flatten the curve of COVID-19 while still being an open and responsive city government,” Roach said. “This new virtual meeting platform will help us comply with the Open Meetings Act while city hall is closed to the public.”
In order to access the virtual meeting April 6, please go to the city’s agenda management system (http://www.boarddocs.com/il/ofallon/Board.nsf). People should click on the meeting they wish to view. Each meeting will have instructions on how to join the virtual meeting. The virtual meeting will begin at the scheduled time, but people may enter a virtual “waiting room” prior to the meeting beginning.
People may participate in the meeting using their computer’s existing speakers, microphone and camera (camera not required), or people may call in for audio only.
Instructions specific to the meeting will be provided by a moderator prior to the beginning of the meeting.
Gov. Pritzker’s March 16 executive order waived the attendance requirements for public meetings to allow for virtual attendance. As a result, the city will be hosting an online Zoom Monday.
In-person attendance will not be allowed, but public attendance and comment will be available through the virtual meeting.
Here is a training video for how to join a meeting: https://www.youtube.com/embed.
“If you have information you wish to share with the city council, we ask that you email them directly to insideofallon@ofallon.org and they will be shared with the city council. All city council meeting agendas are posted online at https://www.boarddocs.com/il/ofallon/Board.nsf,” Roach said.
Regarding O’Fallon facilities, people can find more info at https://www.ofallon.org/home/news/to-help-prevent-the-spread-of-covid-19-beginning-on-march-18-access-to-city-facilities.
For more information, contact Grant Litteken at 618-624-4500 ext. 8760 or email at glitteken@ofallon.org.
Volunteer opportunities can be found at serve.illinois.gov. Any business or organization wanting to donate personal protective equipment can find out how to do so by visiting www2.illinois.gov/sites/serve/Disaster/Pages/COVID-19-PPE-Donations.aspx or by emailing ppe.donations@illinois.gov.
Additional websites
- State of Illinois’ coronavirus page: coronavirus.illinois.gov.
- Federal government’s coronavirus page: cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html.