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CITY MANAGER’S REPORT July 15, 2020 COVID-19 PANDEMC UPDATE At a special session on Tuesday, July 14th, the City Council adopted Ordinance 20-11 that requires face coverings in certain public settings. Thanks to the donation from the Montana Hospital Association and our partnership with the Whitefish Convention & Visitors Bureau, if there are individuals who do not have their own face covering, they can come to City Hall during our regular business hours to pick up a reusable face covering. We currently have 1,000 reusable masks on-hand and will procure additional masks as needed. The City issued a new community update from Mayor Muhlfeld about the new ordinance and a letter was prepared and drafted for businesses owners. The City has developed a process for violations of the new face covering regulations by businesses. Anyone can submit a complaint at www.cityofwhitefish.org/covidcomplaint and staff will investigate the claims. We plan to first reach out the businesses, discuss the complaint and procedures of the business, prior to moving through any civil citation process. On Wednesday, July 15th, Governor Steve Bullock issued a new directive requiring masks or face coverings in businesses in Montana. The City’s ordinance remains in effect, except where the directive is more restrictive. The directive by the Governor requires masks or face coverings must be worn by individuals 5 year of age or older. For children between the ages of two and four mask and face coverings are recommended. There is also specific signage language provided in the directive that we are working to update you signs with today to make it available to our businesses. An update will be provided at the City Council after I discuss the directive in more detail with the Flathead City-County Health Department and their plans for enforcement. The Flathead Community Health Center continues to operate a COVID-19 testing site on Thursdays from 12:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. and Fridays from 7:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. in the Whitefish High School parking lot. This site is setup to test individuals who do not have of a respiratory illness and it is completely free! While is it designed for workers who interact with customers regularly, anyone who wants to be tested may do so. Availability is on a first come, first serve basis. Unfortunately, the time is takes for test results to be available is about two weeks. While many event organizers are canceling events throughout Montana, the City anticipates certain special events to continue this summer. As directed by the Governor, the City is requiring all special event organizers to work with the Flathead City-County Health Department to ensure their event has put into place all safety measures to meet the Governor’s guidelines for Phase Two prior to the City’s approval. The Health Department has noted that the turn-around for event reviews is about three days. With the new face covering requirements for organized gatherings of 20 or more people, that will be condition for approval of all special event permits as long as the ordinance is in effect. MEETINGS On July 9th, the Whitefish Strategic Housing Committee met and recommended an update to the cash in lieu of affordable housing fee based on new data. The recommended changes will be presented to the City Council in August. The snow low project and contract has been fully executed and the property is now ---PAGE BREAK--- owned by the Whitefish Housing Authority. The next meeting is scheduled for September 10th to allow staff time to prepare an annual report and work on accessory dwelling units more in the coming months. OTHER ITEMS The new City website was rolled out on July 14th! We encourage everyone to sign up for notifications on our website and take some time to browse the new site. NEXT COUNCIL MEETING The next City Council meeting will be held on Monday, August 3rd, in the City Council Chambers. A work session is tentatively schedule for the review of the draft Sustainable Tourism Master Plan and a draft ordinance regarding shared mobility devices, golf carts, etc. Respectfully submitted, Dana M. Smith, CPA City Manager