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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-11-12 TranscriptionPage 1 Emergency Joint Entities Meeting City of Iowa City, November 12, 2020 Zoom Meeting Platform Present Johnson County Board of Supervisors - Iowa City Community School District - City of Iowa City - City of Coralvilie - City of North Liberty - Other Johnson County Municipalities and School Districts Others. Senator Joe Bolkcom, Representative Dave Jacoby, Representative Mary Mascher, Dave Wilson - Director Johnson County emergency Management, Rod Lehnertz, Univesity of Iowa - VP of Finance & Operations. Expert Speakers related to COVID-19: Dr. Jorge Salinas, University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics - Clinical Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine - Infectious Diseases; Dr. Stephen Scheckel, Mercy Hospital IC - VP Medical Affairs; Sam Jarvis, Johnson County Public Health -Community Health Division Manager. COVID-19 Teague: As we all know, COVID-19 in our area and ... and within our state, the numbers are increasing, and so, uh, before we get into some of the, uh, particulars of the agenda, I did want to just kind of go through and, uh, make some recognitions. Um, a part of this, um, we can certainly do later. But I thought if we could maybe just, uh, have, uh, some representation from each entity. If you can either wave your hand, um, so that people can acknowledge, uh, your presence. So Johnson County Board of Supervisors. University of Iowa. The City of Coralville. City of Hills. City of Iowa City. One ... one thing I do have, uh, questions about, um, I think we might type our names for attendance, um, in the chat. But for now I just wanna recognize everybody. Um, so if you can wave. City of Lone Tree. City of North Liberty. City of Oxford. City of Shueyville. City of Solon. City of Swisher. City of Tiffin. City of University Heights. And then we have our School Boards, Clear Creek ... and Iowa City. Welcome to all of you today. I do know that we have other individuals that are here, uh, with us today. Some have been invited to be a part of this agenda, uh, and which I'll call them, um, as we go through the agenda, and then some of our legislative delegates have also been invited, and well have a place and a time for, uh, remarks by them and we'll also acknowledge any of them that are present, um, whether they give remarks and not. So thanks again for, um, bein' a part of today. Uh, because the hour is very important and I wanna ensure that everybody has a chance to, uh, share today, because this is a topic that is near and dear to all of us, especially when we are trying to do all ... all we can within our cities and, um, whatever municipality that you're operating under. And so we're gonna start with our item number three and it's expert speakers related to COVID-19. Um, I believe that Dr. Salinas from the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinic is present, and we're gonna invite you at this time, and following, uh, him will be Dr. Steve from the Mercy of lo ... for Mercy of Iowa City, Chief Medical Officer. Expert speakers related to COVID-19 Salinas: Hello. Can you hear me okay? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council Emergency Joint Entities meeting of November 12, 2020. Page 2 Teague: Yes, we can. Salinas: Excellent. Thank you. I know that many, uh, leaders are present here, including public health experts, so I won't, um, spend a whole lot of time, uh, emphasizing, uh, how severe the situation is. We're seeing exponential growth in the number of cases in the entire region, including Iowa, including Johnson County. Uh, that has put, uh, tremendous pressure in our healthcare system in the entire, again, region, uh, including the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Uh, we are actively modifying our protocols to, um, try to predict what the, uh, future needs, uh, will be in coming days and weeks. And, uh, they are very clear recommendations and actions that all Iowans can take to ensure that the incidence stops going up and starts going down. And those are probably everybody present here knows them: wearing masks. I congratulate our City for our, uh, mask mandate. Urn ... uh, that's very important. I think that all cines in Iowa should have a mask mandate. Um, there are also other recommendations that the Coronavirus Task Force has ... has given us, including limiting the number or the occupancy in restaurants, for example, to 50%; limiting, uh, gatherings to your household... to members of your household only; um ... uh, and limiting hours of certain businesses. In general, we should try to decrease socialization. A common rule is to not socialize in groups larger than 10, and you could translate that into your, uh, your household, uh, and obviously that translates into, you know, how would we go to restaurants, bars, etc. Again, the ... the public health recommendations are exceedingly clear, uh, to the point that even the Coronavirus Task Force, the White House Coronavirus Task Force, is very explicit in them. So I would recommend,um, all entities in our region to follow those recommendations. Thank you. You're muted. Teague: I have to get used to another Zoom meeting, right? (laughs) Um, and thank you for those words. Dr. Steve from Mercy of Iowa City, who is the Chief Medical Officer. I don't see him ... on right now. All right, we'll ... we may swing back around to him (both talking) Fruehling: Mayor? Teague: Yes? Fruehling: Is his last name Scheckel? Teague: Yes! Fruehling: Okay. Let me promote him. He came in as a registrant. Teague: Great, thank you. And normally this doesn't take a long time. So we will allow him a little time. All right. And, Dr. Steve, let us know when you can hear us. I see you've been promoted over to the live stream. I think what we'll do is, while we're, um, getting him all situated. I did ... I did see Sam Jarvis from the Johnson County Public Health Department, uh, who is a Community Health Manager there. I don't know if I've seen, uh, the Director Dave Koch yet, but maybe we'll go ahead and have (several talking, garbled) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council Emergency Joint Entities meeting of November 12, 2020. Page 3 Scheckel: (mumbled) Teague: ... at this time. Oh, there is (garbled) Scheckel: Hello! Teague: Hello. Scheckel: Can ... can you hear me now? Teague: Yes, we can hear you. Scheckel: Fantastic. Sorry for the delay. Um, is it a good time right now? Teague: Yes, we're gonna go ahead and have you, uh, chime right on in. Thanks for joinin' us. Stephen Scheckel: Okay, sorry, uh, my volume isn't great here, but I'll go ahead. Thanks for the opportunity to join you. Um, just, uh, adding to what Dr. Salinas was ... was saying. Um, we really are in a challenging time right now with the COVID surge. Um, I think all of us are aware of that, and unfortunately Iowa is actually, uh, near the top of the list as far as positivity rates go. We're up around 50% in the latest report that I received, and what that means to us is that all of us have a big challenge, uh, to, uh, do our best to prevent the spread of this disease. As everyone knows, it's highly contagious, um ... uh, and we're definitely heading in the wrong direction, and, uh, this affects not only all of our friends, family, and community members, but it also affects our ability to take care of patients in the hospital. And as you might imagine, um, not only are our community individuals at risk, but our care providers are at risk, and I think all of the hospitals are experiencing a number of their healthcare providers actually becoming ill, and that often happens. Doesn't really happen in the hospital, but what happens is, uh, family members and community members that they interact when they're not at the hospital, uh, might have this, uh... uh, disease and because they're minimally symptomatic, or maybe asymptomatic, they can transmit it to these other individuals. They become sick, and if they're not aware of having the disease, they might spread it to some of their co-workers. So right now, uh, the whole region is in a bit of a ... a ... a crisis, if you wanna call it that, um, and the University is actually been leading the way in trying to open up bed space, but the Eastern Iowa hospitals are pretty much at their maximum capacity. And when that happens, then we all, uh, risk the possibility of not having the healthcare services available that we all need. Um, in the latest survey that we did, we did a large group meeting of the regional hospitals, uh, including 17 hospitals, and out of those 17 hospitals, only two hospitals had ICU bed capacity. And so if you think about that, the sickest patients are gonna need ICU, uh... uh, services, yet of those 17 hospitals, we only can send those patients to two hospitals, and it won't take long for those to fill up. So we all have to do our best to, number one, what we're doing is getting together to try to share the resources that we do have, um, and the other thing that we need to do is similar to what Dr. Salinas said, we need to do ... be responsible in trying to prevent the transmission of this ... this very contagious disease to each other, and my feeling is that anything we can do to This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council Emergency Joint Entities meeting of November 12, 2020. Page 4 limit exposure, wear masks all the time. It's so important. Wash hands. Um, I ... I feel that we should not have bars open so people can get close together and potentially spread the disease. Um, I think more measures such as they have been introduced in some of these communities, including Iowa City, uh, about mandatory mask wearing is essential, I think, for the sake of all of us, our communities and our ability to continue to care for these very... sometimes very sick patients. We have to step up and do what it takes to try to turn this curve down the other way, and so, um, I appreciate this kind of meeting to get ... to make awareness for this. We're heading into a very dangerous period with Thanksgiving, where people very justifiably want to get together. They're tired of this sort of, uh, separateness and, uh, isolation, but it's time for us to take that extra step, do what we have to do to ... to bring down the spread of this virus. Um, in the long run it's the only way we're gonna get stores and businesses back open and really make our community safe. So, I appreciate the opportunity to, uh, contribute to this very important conference that you put together. Teague: Thank you again for joining us, I really appreciate your words. If there is anyone that is not a panelist, uh, that is a part of a entity, please raise your hand and we'll have someone allow you to be entered as a panelist. So again, if there's anyone that is not a panelist, um, and, uh, just raise your hand and we'll have you enter as a panelist. Well thanks again, uh, Dr. Steve. I'm going to go ahead and we'll move on to Johnson County Public Health, Sam Jarvis is the Community Health Manager there and we ... we warm hear a little bit about public safety measures, as well as you all are definitely, um, inundated with public health.... situations related to COVID-19. You and I, of course, have had extensive conversations even about mental health related to COVID-19. So at this time, please welcome Sam Jarvis. Jarvis: Hey, good afternoon everyone. Can everyone hear me all right? Wonderful. Well, thank you for having us, uh, really appreciate the opportunity to provide, uh, what's going on, and you heard from our hospital partners, uh, the pretty severe and serious situation we're in. Unfortunately we're, uh, not here to be able to deliver the best of news, uh, you know, at this point in time. We hope to someday. We hope to be able to ... to greet all of you again and let you know when the pandemic is over, but that is not today. Um, and certainly, uh, everyone is looking at the State's dashboard and looking at those numbers, but to put that in perspective, we are pretty close to 8,000 cases and more than likely we will hit that mark, ub, sometime this weekend. To put that in perspective, uh, we've seen roughly 1,000 of those cases since the beginning of November. So we are, uh, rapidly increasing, you know, positive cases by the day, uh, and seeing those triple digits. Our friends in Linn County are certainly seeing as well too and I'm sure others are looking at that as close of a ... a partner they are in the corridor. Uh, so we're not where we want to be as a community, uh, with cases. I think that's been made pretty clear and we certainly look at, uh, the impact it's having on our healthcare partners and the concerns that we're having. So, uh, I won't belabor that, but we do have to stress how severe this is and how important it is right now because with our case investigations, every day that's triple digits, uh, causes us to lag behind just a bit more, uh, and it's becoming increasingly difficult, uh, to make contact with persons. Certainly with, uh, the election it made it more difficult because persons were not picking up their call. They were screening their phone because we all know that we were getting calls and texts constantly. So that really inhibits our This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council Emergency Joint Entities meeting of November 12, 2020. Page 5 process. So there's one thing that we could really plea to our community today is please return calls, please make contact with us. We're trying to reach you as quickly as possible, and when we have delays on that, that certainly delays the information that we need to establish your infectious period and be able to make contact, uh, with your close contacts, and that's really one of the, uh, main ways that we can stop transmission. If we can identify close contacts and get them in quarantine, um, that's how we break the chain of transmission. So that is, uh, one of the most important things that we could stressed today. Um, in terms of other recommendations, you know, certainly everything that we've heard today, um, and then some, you know, we would fully support seeing schools move virtually. We know that that is tough. We know that that causes significant barriers to a lot families and... and certainly, uh, is a hardship. Uh, but right now, uh, we're definitely seeing concerns in extracurriculars, uh, and after-school activities. Uh, other things, you know, certainly looking at the winter sports season, uh, consider postponing until further notice. We are seeing those gatherings, gatherings like that, family gatherings, uh, spreading transmission, and so, um, you know, there's always ... we wish to have better news, uh, to ... to provide, but we are not where we wanna be as a community right now and, uh, you know, we need to reiterate the things that we have been doing and doing well. Uh, we have a mask mandate here in Johnson County and Iowa City, and other municipalities, and we see that. We see that when we're outside and we see people walking on the street with masks on, we ... we appreciate that. We've got to carry on that behavior when it's with our family members and friends who are not in our household. We tend to let our guard down and those are also opportunities where we're seeing transmission. So it's, you know, just as important, if not more important, to be able to do that. You know, certainly we don't want to provide or...or send the message that it's, uh, you know, that we need to be afraid, uh, like we were in March and April, but we need to take just as much caution, like ... that we did then, uh, we do now. Because right now it matters the most, because you've heard it from our hospital partners, there are grave concerns about capacity and (mumbled) a community, uh, all of us together in our individual groups and families, we are able to curb transmission, but we've gotta not let fatigue take part. So, as always, happy to answer any questions. Teague: Thank you, Jarvis. Would ... does anyone have any questions for him? I'm sure there's thousands of questions, uh, for you. And for any of the other speakers at this ... at this time. Bolkcom: So this... this is Senator Bolkcom. I have a question about our capacity of 15 of 17 eastern Iowa Hospitals are out of ICU beds (mumbled) kind of dancing around with ... with, uh, how dire, I mean it is dire. But there's a suggestion, at least today, the Governor says we have plenty of ICU beds. We have plenty of ventilators. Are we going to, uh, be swamped in a ... in another five days? I mean, are we going to be overcapacity, and basically not have ... is that 14 days from now? Is that ... because I know we just keep repeating the same message. It's not working... what we're doing is not working and the changes she suggested are not working. So at what point will we exceed, the patients, succeed our capacity in ICU and, uh, overrun our hospitals? I mean is (mumbled) is anybody calculating that? Salinas: I'll start. Um, and this is not an exact science. Unfortunately I don't have all the ... all the data for every hospital, and, uh, but the epidemic is a bit, uh (mumbled) Some hospitals will start This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council Emergency Joint Entities meeting of November 12, 2020. Page 6 reaching capacity sooner than others. But it's clear, for example, I can give you some anecdotes. Uh, our hospital receives calls from hundreds of miles away, uh, in other states, uh, trying to transfer their patients to us because they don't have hospitals in their vicinity that can take care of their patients. So the entire Midwest is experiencing these shortages. Um, another, uh, piece of information that can help you in your calculations is that the number of hospitalizations we're seeing today are the reflection of the number of new diagnosis we had, uh, 10 to 14 days ago, when they were half of the number of new infections we're having now. So you should expect the number of hospitalizations to continue growing in the coming days and weeks. Even if we were able to effectively stop all transmission going forward, starting today, the number of hospitalizations will still continue going up for the next two weeks. So hospitals are already, uh, having to suspend elective procedures. Uh, some small hospitals don't have ICUs. This patient will only get worse. So bottom line, to me, is that the answer is yes, the system will be, uh, overwhelmed. Scheckel: Uh, one thing I might add, if you can, uh, hear me is that, uh, the ... many of these hospitals and I know the University of Iowa is, Mercy Iowa City is, and many other hospitals are expanding their capacity for ICU beds. And we're doing that by moving people around, and as Dr. Salinas mentioned, we are, uh, suspending elective procedures that are anticipating a requirement for an overnight stay in the hospital for patients. Uh, what we're doing is rescheduling those because what we want to do is move the available staff to areas that need the most help, and right now that are our ICUs. Uh, it's ... it's essential that we're able to take care of these patients, they're the sickest patients, um, and the availability of ventilators is very important, but the key issue really is staffing, and that's why we have to maintain the health of our own staff, and they have to be particularly vigilant about, uh, potential transmission and all of those safety measures, and all of the community has to do that in order to support the hospital staff, uh, and so to answer that question, our plan is to not have the sort of, uh, circumstance where we have to set up tents, uh, for these COV ID patients. Some of the ... like in New York City they had to do that and actually in Wisconsin areas are having to do that. We're doing our best to adapt to these increasing numbers that are ... are really skyrocketing, and I think by all of the hospitals working together to communicate, which we're doing on a regular basis, and asking the community to help us by doing all of the preventive, um ... um, sort of activities that are going to help decrease the transmission of this virus, but we are kind of at a critical, uh, phase. Uh, we're holding our own, but we need the community to help us. Public Safety Measures Currently /n Place/Entity Updates Dodds: This is Jill Dodds from Coralville City Council. Um, the Governor every day has a press conference and says that there is no mask mandate. So that's sending a mixed message. What can we do in Johnson County to strengthen that ... that message, that that is the expectation here? Scheckel: Um, and I'll ... I'll jump in there first. I think what we need to do is stress that locally as best we can the public service announcement, and I can tell you we sent a message to the Governor's office just yesterday after the meeting of these, uh, Eastern Iowa Hospitals to, uh... uh, ask for stronger mandates, stronger, uh, requirements to mask people. Um, my feeling is, and I think the feeling unanimously was that these new measures with restrictions about 100 individuals This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council Emergency Joint Entities meeting of November 12, 2020. Page 7 outdoors and 25 individuals indoors is just inadequate. Um, I, you know, my feeling is it's not based on science and we need stronger measures so that we can keep our community safe, and keep our hospitals functioning and keep our healthcare providers safe. Teague: All right. Thank ... thanks everybody for chimin' in. I do want to allow, uh, some space for any entity updates, um, and also after that we're gonna have two other things that's gonna happen before we kind of get to the end of the ... end of our time here, but we'll have remarks from any of our legislative delegates, and I see that, um, we have a representative from the University of Iowa, that we'll also have speak to us and we wanna make sure that we have time for Rod today, as well. Um, and we wanna allow for, uh, comments from the public. So, I'm gonna ask that anyone from enti ... entity that has an update if you can, urn, have a representative from your entity give an update, and we'll start, um, right now. I know that, uh, Councilor Weiner from Johnson... from Iowa City Council is gonna be our ..our representative, so I will start with Councilor Weiner while everybody gets, uh, their representative all figured out. Weiner: First, thank you all for coming today on such short notice. There are some advantages to Zoom it turns out. Um, the ... I mean Iowa City ...the Mayor just re ... reupped our face covering, our mask mandate, and it will be .... and it now is extended through, um, January 15'x', so that it goes through the holidays. We have some, as ... as ... as ... as either Dr Scheckel or Dr. Salinas referred to, the holidays are coming up, Thanksgiving's coming up Christmas is coming up. Um, from our perspective in Iowa City, we really want to keep everyone safe and well, so we urge you to take the long perspective that ... that with s vaccine on ... vaccines on the horizon, it will not be ... we will not be in this situation a year from now. So please Zoom your Thanksgiving. Just stay with your small family group, do whatever you can to keep yourselves safe at this point. Um, the numbers are ... are skyrocketing. (garbled) Just today, um, there were, uh, 30 deaths recorded. There's 1,200 ho ... hospitalized, 166 new cases in Johnson County, um, and just next door in Linn County, they were at, um, 375 new cases, and Polk is at 608. We've doubled our cases, um, over the last two weeks and we're three times the national average. So my view is, this is, you know, public health is not a popularity contest. It's about public health and keeping everyone safe. I'm worried about our ...our communities. We're worried about our communities who are ... who are more vulnerable, elderly people, BIPOC..the BIPOC community, as well as those who have pre-existing conditions. Um, and so we really all need to do our part that, you know, the mask you wear today is not just gonna protect others, it's gonna protect you too. So we're gonna continue getting this message out. Would really urge any media who are on this call to please help us get this message out, um, and... and as well as any ideas you have. You can find our emails and phone numbers on ... on ... on our ..on the Iowa City website. Please let us know. Teague: Any other entities with significant updates, please chime in. I know that Johnson County updated, uh, extended their mask order and also the, uh, Iowa City Community School District is now goin' virtual as of...starting Monday. Donahue: (mumbled) North Liberty. Basically as of tomorrow we are splitting our employees' work time into different shifts and different teams, and so we're trying to ... that's one of the initial This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council Emergency Joint Entities meeting of November 12, 2020. Page 8 things that we did a long time ago and find it necessary to do again. We are also curtailing our activities in the Library to where there can be appointments only (mumbled) for computer use only, and also for persons who need to get their drivers license cause that's the only convenient kiosk. Our, um, Community Center is such that we have reduced the number of appointments and that they'll ... uh, carefully monitored to around eight or 10 people on an appointment basis and a member only basis. So that's the way that we've been shutting things right now. From: I wanna report for University Heights... oh, I'm sorry. Eyestone: No, go ahead, Louise. From: Okay, thank you, Shawn. I wanna report for University Heights, you know, cause of our close proximity to Kinnick Stadium. Since we're kind of known for tailgating, but since the first game, we've had two home games, and, uh, we've had very good success with very little or no tailgating, no more than 10 people can, uh, be in a yard and they have to social distance and wear masks, and we're also not allowing parking in yards. During football, cars park all over residents' yards. That's not allowed. Um, we're also, uh, put a stop to outdoor vending and, uh, as I said, the groups of greater than 10 individuals are prohibited from gathering, um, and groups of any size are prohibited from gathering on all public property, and we've been very successful for the first two games and the University Heights Police Department has been, um, covering this and talking to people, and we've had very good success with it. And that's ... and we're gonna continue with it as football season continues. Eyestone: I'm gonna give a quick update on the School District, uh, where we're at and probably a little editorializing on my part too, but, uh, as Mayor Teague said, we are starting Monday, um, going back to 100% online. Um, one of the difficulties we have is trying to still work with the State guidelines, which are arguably not great, uh, in terms of when we can or can't shut down our school, and then we only get the approval for two weeks at a time when we do get it. Um, there is always the option, uh, for us as board members to decide we're just going to ignore the State and do whatever we want. I will tell you that, um, I spoke with, uh, the superintendent of the Des Moines Public Schools. As your ... as many of you are probably aware, they did not start going to school like they were supposed to, um, for many, many weeks, and they went through some mediation with Department of Ed and they were told that they could count half of the time that they were fully online and not the rest. They had to make up the rest of it. So that would be a significant challenge if we were to go down that road. Um, the other piece I would throw out there, uh, what we hear from the public, right, is that we're voting to shut down all of the sports and other extracurriculars, right, and our focus is clearly on the safety of the kids in the school, and that's a State sort of punitive thing that they have added on with, uh, sports and things like that. Uh, but what I would ask, and I don't know, maybe this is more towards, uh, Joe and I think Dave was on there. I don't know where the State athletic unions land. It would help if they would just postpone all of their stuff, right, just push winter sports out, push the state's, uh, like the football's goin' on now. I ... I don't know why they feel the need they have to have it done right now. Right? I understand that the kids have worked hard and the coaches worked hard, and they don't warm just cancel it all together, but it can happen at a different This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council Emergency Joint Entities meeting of November 12, 2020. Page 9 time. So that would take one burden off of us as a school district, and then obviously if we were able to focus our energies on how we're gonna help, uh, our staff work and how to help our students learn, instead of just constantly talking about how do we keep people from getting sick. Right? That's the focus that we should be spending our time on. But we're not allowed to because we have to spend so much time trying to keep everybody healthy and safety because our ...our state's not doing it. Um, and I appreciate all the local stuff. I ... I think that our numbers show that our schools have done a pretty good job, um, when we've had half the kids in there on a hybrid model, of staying relatively healthy, um, but it's not zero cases, right? There's cases there. Um, and one thing I would just kind of ask. I don't know how we make it happen, but one of the things I hear frequently is locally, right, but Johnson County is so much better than the rest of the state in how they're doing, which I guess is a true statement. But it's also still really bad, right, when the rest of state is terrible, and we're just like the least bad one. That's not great. And so I don't know how we more publicly say that ... here's some good places around the country that are doing it better or even around the world that are doing it way better than us, and making that much more public, because we do hear that a lot, that Johnson County's doing really well. And so I think that's when people start lettin' their guard down. So that's... that's my editorializing. Teague: Thank you. Lundell: This is, um (both talking) Scheckel: (mumbled) Lundell: ... from Coralville. Scheckel: (mumbled) Lundell: ... feedback, it sounds like. I'm not quite sure why. Teague: You sound fine now. Lundell: Do I sound fine now? Okay, good. I may have had two screens open or something. But anyhow, um, yeah, we're tryin' to, you know, keep up the good fight in Coralville, as well. Um, we've got the portable signs that we've had up for some (garbled) people to ... to mask up, thumbs up, uh, information, of course, on all the buses and city facilities. Um, we've been trying to be very vigilant at our Recreation Department to control the numbers, uh, even though there... players would like to stay in play in much larger numbers than are permitted. We're ... we're enforcing the rules there. Um, so whatever we can do. We're just trying to reinforce it. So, um, like everybody else. Green -Douglass: Um, John, this Lisa Green -Douglass. I just wanted to let you know about an email we received today and it was regarding people going into the city hall in Coralville unmasked and, um, there ... there wasn't any kind of enforcement going on and, you know, we had reports from This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council Emergency Joint Entities meeting of November 12, 2020. Page 10 one of our offices and we had to really just kind of, you know, get verbally firm and... and remind them that we have to set the example, and if we're not doing it and we're out there saying, oh, it needs to be done and the numbers are rising and look at what the State's not doing, if we're not doing it, um, you know, sorry, sorry to be, you know, grumpy here but, um, that was the report we got, that it's not happening at city hall in Coralville. (both talking) ...people coming in and it needs to be enforced, and so, and we're doing it. There are ways for it to be done. So, just sayin'. Lundell: Yeah, well, Lisa, we've investigated that and we find that to be, um, largely inaccurate. Uh, I'm not gonna say we're perfect, but, um, the staff did an investigation after that message was sent to us earlier today and ... and, you know, comments were made that we haven't seen anyone in quite some time entering without a mask. There are signs on the door requiring `em. So, um, we will continue to do our best and ... but I don't ... I don't think that report was accurate. Teague: Any other entities would like to give an update? Rasmussen: I'll jump in here for the City of Solon, Cami Rasmussen, City Administrator. We are starting on Monday a six-week modified restriction. We will go back to appointments only for city hall and, um, encourage people to do their business remotely. All meetings will be held via Zoom, and the Community Center is already running restricted hours and modified recreation programs. So that's our plan. We plan to stay in that mode for the next six weeks. Taylor: This is Chris Taylor. I'll report for Swisher, um, points north. Um, we also are closing city hall to walk-in traffic. Um, the library ...we had a city council meeting on Monday night and the library reported that they were considering their options, and then yesterday the library also went to curbside pickup only. The library's suspending all in-person programming too. Um, so we are... we're also trying to set that example. Our public works department has been staggering and self -segregating now for ...for quite some time, just trying to keep everyone from not getting it all at once. Um, without getting into any personnel details, the administration is dealing with COVID exposures. So we're trying to, uh, limit that as much as we possibly can. Um, also I'll just report, not as a ... an elected official, but as a parent of several students at College Community, College Community, um, is moving to all virtual for two weeks to try and nip this in the bud. They've got, um, some increasing numbers there and then they'll go back to their hybrid program. They also had an emergency meeting on Monday night where they have put in place some rules for next semester, where you will only be able to opt into the all virtual model if your child has a health condition or if they live with someone who has a health condition. Um, I think the timing of that was really unfortunate, um, given the increasing numbers we're seeing. I expect they're gonna get some pushback from that and maybe a strongly worded letter from the mayor. Um, but I think everyone's sort of looking for some kind of unified guidance and not finding it, um, and that continues to be a frustration for ...for a lot of us. Um, I'll also mention that this morning, uh, we had a call with the Executive Board for the Iowa League of Cities. Mayor Lundell was on that. John jump in if...if you wanna weigh in. John mentioned this group at that call this morning, um, as one of those things that we do well in Johnson County, that we all speak with one another at least once a quarter and try This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council Emergency Joint Entities meeting of November 12, 2020. Page I I and coordinate these things. Uh, one of the questions that came up was once we have a vaccine, what is going to be the role of the cities in helping to promote that and helping to get that out there. I think we all agree on that call this morning and on this call that it would be best to have a statewide coordinated response, um, when we have a vaccine in place, but I think we also don't want to necessarily take that for granted. And as we move forward, I hope that this group and ... and all of us at the city level are thinking about how we might facilitate that when the time comes. Rettig: Hey, Chris, can you hear me, it's Janelle. Um, if...if David Wilson's on the phone or Sam Jarvis can get back, um, they actually are having meetings working on that, and they did a trial run with the flu shot. So if Dave Wilson or Sam is on here, they can talk, but our entities were helping in that. It just may not have come up to our level to (mumbled) that. Taylor: Yeah, Dave was on as a (garbled) Wilson: ... can you guys hear me (both talking) Yeah we ... Sam, I see ya on the screen as well. Um, we had a trial run. We used the fall influenza clinic down at the fairgrounds (mumbled) working with the hospitals or University of Iowa, Public Health, and others, and there is a coordinated effort on how that will, um, roll out, and it continues to evolve, but there will be a coordinated effort on that. Uh, but more concern is just those people that might not choose to get it. So I think there needs to be a concerted effort to encourage people to actually seek out the vaccination and get vaccinated, um, because that will be a challenge. Uh, there is a contingent out there that believes it was, you know, rushed to market and that type of thing, and... and not that it was necessarily a ... a safe and efficient process. So we'll have that challenge to work with, um, and I think it's important that is a coordinated, unified voice. We work to deliver the message that people should try and get immunized when that is available and ... and there will be a hierarchy of...of what groups of people get that immunization first and that ... that vaccine. Taylor: Yeah, I'm just, you know, speaking for my own residents, um, I think we should also keep in mind the folks who might be on the fence, who could take it or not, but they might be mobility - limited or they're older folks who don't drive anymore, um, and might find it just too burdensome, um, to go to some centralized location. So that's another population to keep in mind, which I know ... I mean that's an obvious thing that ... that the professionals are keeping in mind. Eyestone: I forgot one thing from the School District, uh, and you know, it was Tuesday night that we decided we were gonna go ahead and, uh, go online starting on Monday, but we mentioned Tuesday night that if it got real problematic at any one school we'd take them down early, and we had to do just that. So Hills Elementary closed down, um, today and tomorrow, ahead of the other ones because of, uh, really high absentee rate, um, with both students and staff. So I forgot to mention that earlier. Teague: Any other entity updates? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council Emergency Joint Entities meeting of November 12, 2020. Page 12 Weiner: Bruce, I think Mary Mascher is on as a ... as a non -participant and, um, wants to speak. I urge..I sort of urged her to raise her digital hand. We've been trying to get her switched, but we haven't been able to figure out which (garbled) Remarks from State Legislative Delegates & University of Iowa Teague: All right, thanks for lettin', uh, lettin' me know. I know that Kellie, the City Clerk for Iowa City, will get her over and if there is anyone else that is in the participant that, um, is a part of the entities or legislative official, please raise your hand and we'll get you switched over. Um, if there is... I wanna allow any more time for any entities that want to speak before we move on to our legislative delegates, and then, uh, our University of Iowa representative. All right, legislative delegates, uh, please, um, it is your time to share. Bolkcom: Well, I'll go ahead and start. Good afternoon, everybody. Um, thanks... thanks for inviting us on the call. It's been good to hear the updates. I want to just start by saying thank you to our city leaders that are on the call and ... and to your staffs, have done just an amazing amount of work to ... to address the pandemic. Um, I think we couldn't all be prouder of the work of the Johnson County Department of Public Health and all the... all that they've taken on and our... and our County leaders as well and ... and their staffs, and frankly just running this election recently. Um, and of course, our School District has had just phenomenal challenges trying to ... trying to take care of our kids and our... and our teachers, and it's great to have the kind of healthcare professionals in our community to support us as well. I think everybody's quite disappointed, uh, in the State's response to protecting Iowans and trying to balance what goes on in our communities with saving lives. The Governor's pretty much solely responsible for kind of the State's response. The legislature has not really had much voice at all in ... in any of the decisions. I was hopeful that the ... with the election behind us, we'd have maybe a... kind of a different posture, um, from the Governor on ... on masks and on ... on some of, uh, our ...the approaches she was gonna take and ... and unfortunately, it seems like the message from her is you're... you're on your own, and I think we've ... we have good local leaders on these issues, and I encourage folks to continue to be aggressive and ... and having this on your agenda, uh, and ... and pushing on. I mean, the City of Iowa City's move forward with the mask mandate, uh, it's a good thing. I think people should think about that. I'm also, in terms of thinking about the federal ... the good news maybe is that we have ... we're gonna have a new president who is gonna follow the science and ... and probably be more aggressive and, uh, in ... in leading a national effort on this. Um, the election, by the way, is over. It was decided Joe Biden did win. And it's really depressing that they are not able to get the kind of support in this transition to move ahead. So if there are ... if there are interest by councils to send letters to senator... our United States senators urging them to, uh, allow the Biden administration to get going on this pandemic, uh, I encourage you to think about that as well, but again, just thanks for all your work. We go back on January l la'. I know we'll be having meetings with some of the entities on this call prior to going back, but stay in touch with us. We look forward to, uh, working with all you when ... and moving... moving ahead in trying to confront this ... the pandemic. Jacoby: I think Joe was very polite, uh, more polite than I can be. Uh, there is no State response, the Governor's completely failed, and I apologize to everyone on the webinar today, and also This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council Emergency Joint Entities meeting of November 12, 2020. Page 13 especially to the hospitals, the VA, Mercy Hospital, and the University of Iowa Hospitals. (mumbled) and I know they cannot comment, have hospitals boxed in the comer ...not to say something in terms of what the doctors think and other healthcare professionals, nurses, everyone across the healthcare spectrum. What we should be doing and especially the administrators saying you cannot come out and say certain things that go against my policy, though I haven't seen a policy yet. Uh, it is a little frustratin' and then the ... on the note about high school sports. I think if we're truly getting toward the third period of the wrestling match, I warm encourage everyone to stay tough because whether you're ahead or behind, you can always get pinned in that third period. We gotta ride it out and then also if there is the vaccines on the way, and we're actually lookin' at a calendar that, uh, as Dave Wilson mentioned can happen, then I think it's good to go to the athletic union and say, listen, if we're looking at a roll-out of vaccines in January, in February, can we hold off on some of these sports until the spring, uh, and I think that's a good thing. That's one of the positive things we're lookin' at now. Uh, sorry to be kind of depressing, but I am so frustrated with the Governor's office. I think the Governor's staff has blocked us in Johnson County. I think they issued a no -contact order for me, that, uh, it's ... I truly would like a special session and it can be a special session of the whole body, or it could be the Legislative Council, but actually get some planning in place, that there's input from all of us, and again, with the hospitals. Thank you for everything you're doing cause we know that we not only serve Johnson County people, we're serving everyone in Iowa and from other states too. Teague: Any other legislators? I did see (several talking, garbled) Mary Mascher here, uh (echoing) Mascher: Hi, I'm on, Bruce, thanks for recognizing me. I was just going to encourage all of us to share how we're going to spend our holidays. I think it's important for all of us to recognize that we may be not with our families this year, and that that's okay, and whether we call them or via Zoom or whatever we do, um, but I want us to be posting that on social media so others can see that we're doing our part, and that we are trying to make sure that we're being safe and that we're trying to protect the workers at the hospital. All of our nurses and doctors and those who are inundated right now need our support and that's one way we can do it. So I would really encourage everyone to post `I'm not going to be with my family this year, and this is why,' um, because I think, um, with the outbreaks that we're seeing, we have to look at what we can do each ... in each of us, and I think that's one of the statements that we can make. I was gonna go over to my son's house. I'm not now. Um, it just doesn't make any sense. And it's not worth it to me or them, and again, to every single hospital healthcare worker that we have out there, to put anybody in danger like that. So I'm just encouraging folks to order out if you need to, you know, do those things, even identify who you're ordering from. If that's gonna help some of our local businesses (mumbled) that. But I think we have to have a very clear message that we're taking it seriously here. Um, Shawn, I heard you loud and clear. Our numbers are increasing too. And we need to be held accountable for that and know that community spread means all of us have to do our part. And I think that's one way we can do it is by letting folks know, I probably won't be with them for Christmas either. And the mail still works. So I can send letters and notes and cards and maybe we need to get back to that old-fashioned Christmas This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council Emergency Joint Entities meeting of November 12, 2020. Page 14 where we're sending notes to people again, right, not through internet, but just sending letters. So I'm just encouraging folks to do that. Teague: Thanks, Representative Mascher. Any other legislative delegates... that would like to (mumbled) to say anything at this time? All right, we are on to the University of Iowa. Welcome, Rod, who is our ..who is the Vice President of Finance and Operations, welcome. Lehnertz: Great. Thank you, Mayor Teague, and thank you for hosting this. And frankly, thank you for, um, your calm, steady, and strong leadership in what has been an amazingly challenging year, um, and I, um, expand that to my virtual meeting table with everyone here. It's, um, you know, we're a university hosted by the communities that are represented here and as we share our concerns and our despair and our challenges, I ... I also know I'm, uh, preaching to the choir when we talk about what we're trying to do as a group of leaders here. Uh, I don't have to stray very far from our community and I feel like when I wear a mask I feel like I'm the odd man out and it feels strange. It is exactly the opposite here and that's to ... to the thanks to the credit of...of all of you and many others that ... that have been representing that. I ... I did also want to especially, um, thank a couple, um, Dave Wilson and Sam Jarvis, their work with Johnson County. The, uh, Sam, your ...your team of dedicated and expert tracers are ... are, uh, have been, uh, invaluable to the University of Iowa this semester in difference making. And so the work and the partnership, I can tell you from many of our peers out there, uh, they are greatly jealous of the relationship we have with our County and our County Public Health and the partnerships we have. It is unique and it has been difference -making for us, so thank you and ... and finally, I mean, all of you thanked, but, um, Dr...Dr. Salinas, you ... you represent thousands who work as dedicated health professionals at UIHC, and when I give tours of the campus, I have always said it... there is the, um, most popu... most densely populated square mile in the state of Iowa and it's always been a bragging point. It ... it now means something different and also means something that can be from a health perspective dangerous and ... and the day in, day out, night in, night out efforts of their group and, Joe, to your .. Senator Bolkcom, to your comments. One of the challenges is, as Dr. Salinas said in the art of knowing how much capacity, the University of Iowa takes great pride in its mandate to take all patients from the state of Iowa. So when Council Bluffs' hospitals can no longer take what they can take and shut down or decide to close shop or...or...or take care of their health workers, those ambulances come to UIHC. The prisoners throughout the state of Iowa come to UIHC. We don't say no. And so this is a challenge we have as these numbers build, um, that is faced every day by Dr. Salinas and our team. So thank you, thank you, and you know, stay healthy, um, and all of us should... should try to help (mumbled) After all those thank yous, I'll give you just a few updates from the University perspective. Thanksgiving is approaching, as you may know, as I think you know. We have this semester adjusted, the semester, so at the Thanksgiving break, uh, we will finish the semester fully online. So the students as they leave, uh, this campus, and some will choose, depending on what their family or living situations will be, can choose to still be here. I can tell you the numbers through our, um, inquiries with all of the residents in a residence hall system, uh, roughly 1,200 will be coming back to campus to do their virtual... all virtual classes from say their residence hall room, but so there will be some students here but vastly less, uh, students to finish the semester. Mayor From, you mentioned the efforts of University Heights. Thank you This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council Emergency Joint Entities meeting of November 12, 2020. Page 15 for the football. We were all concerned about how that might impact things and ... and, you know, none of us do it perfectly, but we only have two home games left, one of them the day after Thanksgiving. So that's kind of a different sort of gathering of crowds less so, and the last one December 12`h, it'll probably be freezing cold. So, and as we've seen with some of the trends on that front, um, it's tenuous as to whether they will happen. I mean, we will all be watching with the rest of the nation on that front. We implore or we ask our students. We plead with our students to take care, not only of themselves and their neighbors, but now their family members as they're heading back home for Thanksgiving. This last week, these last days, very important to think about the choices made outside of the classroom. And... and we recognize that the students haven't experienced a university setting and a university year like we would have hoped for them or like many of us experienced. That time will come, but we ... we thank them for their efforts to be part of this mask -friendly community and continue forth with that. Um, the increasing numbers have us reaching out to the staff and faculty on our campus as well. We will be sending out messaging. We were roughly, um, 85 to 90% of those working at the University of Iowa, if they weren't and those numbers were based on UIHC and maybe those who are absolutely required to be on campus. When the crisis broke out in the spring and again at the beginning of the fall semester, we were as high as 80 to 90% at home. Currently, or what it has been recently, is about a third, a third, and a third, with, uh, one third at home, one third working on campus, and a third hybrid. We will be asking all supervisors to evaluate every position and if they can be at home and do their job, we are asking them once again to do that. So we are looking for a far more decompressed campus, uh, in these ... in these, um, weeks to come, all in ... in, you know, the interests of public health, and to that end, with, um, Shawn, with ... with, um, Iowa City and other school districts making these decisions, making the decisions to go fully virtual, uh, we do have support for our University of Iowa students through Human Resources at the university. Our ...our COVID website, uh, coronavirus.uiowa.edu for services for those who have concerns, parental concerns, and coverage at home, work, work and personal, um, balances and so we looked to ... to support our ...our many, many, many staff members during that time, as well. As we ... as we look ahead to the spring semester, which will race upon us as we know, we have made some modifications. We're delaying the beginning of the spring semester, uh, Monday, January 25th, uh, will be the start of the semester. There will be no spring break at the University. We do in working with our student government and our shared governance, we will be, um, placing some, if you will, mental rest days within the semester, but not intended to be tied to long weekends, those kinds of things, but just moments for mental rest to address, again, the stresses all of us are facing and in coordination with the shared governance leaders on that front. Um, you know, January, as we've seen through the COVID crisis, January is a long ways away, two months was a long ways away in the developments that occur. We recognize that things can shift. We have those working on campus are meeting almost daily, but ... but weekly on the strategies and scenarios we have for our campus during the break, and after the break. As we know more, we will, um, we've made a commitment to our university community and to the students that no later than January 15th will we make any changes to how we would execute the spring semester, but we continue to work with our local, state, federal experts, um, and ... and our Board of Regents, and obviously our President in evaluating all of the health first options that we'll make in trying to bring students, um, back one way or another to a University of Iowa experience for the thousands, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council Emergency Joint Entities meeting of November 12, 2020. Page 16 urn, enrolled at the University of Iowa. So it will remain ... it's a fluid situation. So we will remain like that, adjusting to the news we have, um, and, you know, hopefully be able to have a semester that is similar to the semester we had this time, or at least with the hybrid of...of mostly online classes, currently about three quarters of the courses are ... are fully online, and then the others hybrid, a mixture of online and some, depending on the course work, needed face to face, and again, we'll adjust as we need to depending on the news we all face together over the next couple of months. Um, Mayor Teague, with that, I'll ... I'll stop with that update for you. Teague: Thanks to you and for the University for all the things that you all are doin' to keep the students safe, and of course, you're a huge part of Johnson County, and so we, uh, do appreciate the partnership and your presence today. Thanks to all the panelists that have, uh (garbled) I hear a echo. (garbled) Okay, we're gonna move towards community, uh, public comment, and I will call your first name and you'll be able to speak to us. Um, I see Lee has raised his hand and if there's anyone that would like to speak during public comment, please raise your hand. If you're on the phone, press *9 and I will call your name. Welcome, Lee. Hermiston: That was an accident. Please disregard. Teague: All right, no worries. Anyone else from the public, would you like to, uh, say anything? Hearing nothing or seeing no one, well thanks again to all the panelists. Our next, um, and everybody in attendance (mumbled) our legislative individuals that are here today, really appreciate you taking time for this emergency meeting. It's very important as ... as has been shared here today. Um, our next joint entity meeting will be Monday, January 18th and I believe that the City of Coralville is hosting this, if I am not mistaken, and other than that those meeting agenda items will be sent to all of us. Is there anything else for the good of the cause for now? Donahue: Yeah, Bruce, Terry Donahue here. Um, I think in trying to sum things up in my mind here, is our general message or should our general message be to the general public, wear your mask and that personal sacrifice now, especially going into the holidays, will save lives later. I think that's what we're really trying to say. Teague: Yeah, absolutely. I think you're exactly right with (garbled) Yes. Anything else? Weiner: I just want to really extend best wishes or what... support to all the ... all the healthcare workers because I have ... because you are working so hard, under such difficult conditions, um, and really would ask everybody to do exactly what Mayor Donahue just -just said, for the good of everyone, but particularly for your good, and I wanted to ask one quick question is ... are the hospitals okay on PPE at this point? Scheckel: Can you hear me? Uh, yeah, we do have adequate PPE right now. We went through a period initially where we were having a lot of trouble. But we have managed to procure that, so ... but if the numbers keep rising up that could change. That ... we really appreciate the well-wishing This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council Emergency Joint Entities meeting of November 12, 2020. Page 17 from the community and, uh, so we're gonna certainly do the best we can, but we really do need the help of the community. Wilson: (garbled) Wilson ... we have deployed a couple (garbled) to Mercy Iowa City. (garbled) Uh, there have been no shortages that we've been made aware of locally. Scheckel: The Health Department has really been a big help with us, initially when we were having shortages. So we kind of made it through that initial period without that. So thank you. Teague: Anything else for the ... for this time together? Public Comment None. Future Joint Entity Meeting Eyestone: Mayor Teague, I was just curious, the... housekeeping wise, the January 18th is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Are we going to have the meeting on that day? Or do we wanna move it? Teague: I'm happy you mentioned that. (laughs) Eyestone: I think this came up last year as well, cause you know ...that, meaning the third Monday of the month, and it lands that way almost every year. Teague: So we pulled an emergency meeting now. Would people be willing to go to the fourth Monday of that month, of January? I'm seein' some noddin' of heads and some ... all right. All right, we have a consensus. So we'll ... we'll connect with Coralville and had ... see, um, I'm sure ifll work out. So we'll have it the fourth Monday of January, and my assumption is we should probably just have this the fourth Monday of January every year, moving forward. Because I'm assuming it's gonna come up every year. All right, so yes. All right. Great. If nothin' else, thanks to everybody again. We all have our charge today. Our elected officials, everybody that has spoken on behalf of their entity, their hospital, the University of Iowa, and then those that are in the public. You have your charge: wear your mask, distance, and wash your hands, and as Mayor Donahue has said, I mean, he couldn't have said it better. So thanks to everybody for bein' here today. We are adjourned. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council Emergency Joint Entities meeting of November 12, 2020.