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Nowthen Emergency City Council meeting, March 17, 2020

City Council

Tuesday, March 17, 2020 · 6:00 PM

This meeting on the city's website ↗

Agenda

Not on file

What was on the agenda.

Packet

Not on file

The supporting materials the board reviewed.

Minutes

Open PDF ↗

The official record of what happened.

One-line summary

Council unanimously voted not to declare a local emergency, reduced public access to city facilities through March 31, continued emergency-management and fire-service planning, and reviewed COVID-19 public-safety response changes.

What was on the agenda

7 items as recorded in the minutes, each with a short summary of what was at issue.

  1. 1Call to order and attendance

    The emergency special meeting was opened and attendance was recorded, including Council Member Rainville participating by phone.

    Call to order and attendance only.

    • meeting administration
    No action
    p. 1Meeting Emergency City Council Meeting — Minutes (2020-03-17)Meeting called to order at 6:07 pm by Mayor Pilon. Members present: Mayor Pilon, Council Member Breyen, Council Member Blake, Council Member Greenberg, Council Member Rainville (via phone) Also present: City Clerk Streich, Commander Heath, Anoka County Sheriff's Department, Jerry Streich, Capstone Professional Safety S…

  2. 2Decision on local emergency declaration

    Council considered whether the City of Nowthen should declare its own local emergency in response to COVID-19 declarations at other levels of government.

    Council considered whether Nowthen should declare its own emergency in response to COVID-19. Mayor Pilon recommended not declaring one because federal, state, and county declarations were already in place and staff did not see an additional city authority or reimbursement need. Council Member Rainville moved that the city not declare an emergency, Breyen seconded, and the roll-call vote was unanimous in favor.

    Council approved a motion that the city not declare a local emergency at this time.

    • COVID-19 local emergency declaration
    Approved
    p. 1Meeting Emergency City Council Meeting — Minutes (2020-03-17)Tonight's meeting will discuss the emergency declarations made on the National, Federal, State and County level, and to address those cities around us that are also declaring emergencies. The Council will be deciding what will be done as a city and discussion on services that we want to make sure we are providing, serv…p. 2Meeting Emergency City Council Meeting — Minutes (2020-03-17)MOTION BY COUNCIL MEMBER RAINVILLE THAT THE CITY NOT DECLARE AN EMERGENCY, SECONDED BY BREYEN FOR DISCUSSION ROLL CALL VOTE: AYES: RAINVILLE, BREYEN, BLAKE, GREENBERG, PILON; NAYES: NONE

  3. 3City facilities, parks, meetings, permits, and code enforcement during COVID-19

    Council discussed closing City Hall, the recycling facility, and changing public access to parks and other facilities during the COVID-19 response.

    The city moved to reduce public contact during the pandemic. The minutes record that the city office and recycling facility would close to the public until March 31 for reevaluation, City Hall would be closed to the public, meetings would be cancelled or postponed, permits would be handled remotely, and contractor/code-enforcement involvement would be limited to public-safety risks. Parks were not fully closed, but equipment would be posted as not maintained and restrooms would not be open.

    No separate formal vote was recorded, but the minutes state the facilities would be closed or posted and services limited.

    • COVID-19 facility closures
    • parks
    • recycling center
    • city hall
    Approved
    p. 3Meeting Emergency City Council Meeting — Minutes (2020-03-17)City Clerk/Treasurer Streich recommends closing the city office and recycling facility to the public until Tuesday, March 31st, at which time we will re-evaluate. The people that are trained need to stay healthy. The County and the State have decided to close counters. Everything is being done online or by phone.p. 3Meeting Emergency City Council Meeting — Minutes (2020-03-17)Discussion continued regarding the city parks being closed. With the schools being closed, it might be nice for families to have a place to take their kids. They just have to understand that they will not be cleaned and maintained at this time. The restrooms will not be open. Clerk Streich will check in to a sign stati…

  4. 4Use of Capstone/Jerry Streich for emergency management and fire services planning

    Council discussed the continuing use of Capstone Professional Safety Solutions and Jerry Streich for public safety, emergency management, and fire service planning.

    Mayor Pilon reviewed the city’s existing Capstone Professional Safety Solutions contract for public safety and emergency management consulting. He said Jerry Streich had already been working with surrounding cities on fire-service options and related legislative language, and that the city would continue using him for emergency-management advice and public information during the pandemic while fire-service planning continued.

    No separate formal vote was recorded; the minutes state the mayor proposed continuing the existing arrangement and using the consultant more up front during the emergency.

    • Capstone Professional Safety Solutions
    • fire services planning
    • emergency management
    Approved
    p. 3Meeting Emergency City Council Meeting — Minutes (2020-03-17)Mayor Pilon explained that the contract that they signed with Capstone Professional Safety Solutions stated professional consulting services related to public safety and emergency management. Council's intention was to utilize Jerry to help us work with our surrounding cities to come up with the best solution for our f…p. 4Meeting Emergency City Council Meeting — Minutes (2020-03-17)Mayor Pilon suggested to Council that he and Council Member Breyen wish to continue working with Jerry on these things and will continue to communicate to Clerk Streich what information needs to go to the whole council or to the website with any public information release that they need, and will be able to draft that …

  5. 5Sheriff, fire, and medical response during COVID-19

    Commander Heath and Jerry Streich briefed Council on sheriff, fire, ambulance, and medical-response practices during the pandemic.

    Commander Heath explained that the Sheriff’s Department was still responding to emergency medical calls, but had begun limiting exposure on non-emergency illness calls by waiting for fire, rescue, or ambulance requests before sending deputies. Dispatch was asking screening questions about travel and flu-like symptoms, and deputies were taking some lower-priority reports by phone. Jerry Streich cautioned that police and fire medical response might need to be reconsidered if the outbreak worsened.

    Briefing and discussion only; no motion was recorded.

    • sheriff response
    • fire response
    • medical response
    • COVID-19 service levels
    Discussion only
    p. 4Meeting Emergency City Council Meeting — Minutes (2020-03-17)Mayor Pilon asked Commander Heath what their current practice is with the Sheriff's Department and if there are any changes that are foreseen. Commander Heath explained that they are seeing a gamut across the gamut of what different fire departments are doing. Some are not going to medicals, and some are going to limit…p. 4Meeting Emergency City Council Meeting — Minutes (2020-03-17)About two weeks ago they implemented a process that if they are going on a medical and the nature of the medical is non-emergency, they are waiting to see whether fire and rescue are responding or if ambulance gets there and requests them. If it's a life threatening emergency, they are going regardless.p. 5Meeting Emergency City Council Meeting — Minutes (2020-03-17)On the lower level priority calls like neighbor's dogs barking, complainants will be filing reports over the phone to limit exposure. If a deputy needs to meet face to face, they are asking the complainant to step outside rather than going inside their house. They are asking the deputies to be a little creative in keep…

  6. 6Resident communication, local business support, and volunteers

    Council discussed public information, business impacts, and how to connect residents offering or needing help during the pandemic.

    Council discussed keeping residents informed through the city website with links to federal, state, county, and health-agency information. Mayor Pilon said the city had limited ability to assist businesses directly but could encourage them and help share information. He also described a plan to have residents or groups offering help contact the city with specifics so staff could help connect volunteers with residents who needed assistance.

    Discussion only; no motion was recorded.

    • public communication
    • volunteers
    • local businesses
    Discussion only
    p. 5Meeting Emergency City Council Meeting — Minutes (2020-03-17)Pilon said at this point we are keeping an eye on things. We've chosen to take a 2 week break to look at this, and will re-evaluate at that time. There's nothing we can do but encourage our local businesses. There are individuals within the city that have offered help and we would like to communicate that through our w…

  7. 7Adjournment

    The meeting was adjourned.

    Adjournment motion carried.

    • meeting administration
    Approved
    p. 5Meeting Emergency City Council Meeting — Minutes (2020-03-17)MOTION TO ADJOURN AT 7:28 PM BY RAINVILLE, SECONDED BY BLAKE; ALL IN FAVOR, MOTION CARRIED.

Motions and votes

2 motions on the record.

  • M1MOTION BY COUNCIL MEMBER RAINVILLE THAT THE CITY NOT DECLARE AN EMERGENCY, SECONDED BY BREYEN FOR DISCUSSION.

    Exact transcript text

    MOTION BY COUNCIL MEMBER RAINVILLE THAT THE CITY NOT DECLARE AN EMERGENCY, SECONDED BY BREYEN FOR DISCUSSION

    moved by RAINVILLE, seconded by BREYEN

    Passed
    • YRAINVILLE
    • YBREYEN
    • YBLAKE
    • YGREENBERG
    • YPILON
    p. 2Meeting Emergency City Council Meeting — Minutes (2020-03-17)MOTION BY COUNCIL MEMBER RAINVILLE THAT THE CITY NOT DECLARE AN EMERGENCY, SECONDED BY BREYEN FOR DISCUSSION ROLL CALL VOTE: AYES: RAINVILLE, BREYEN, BLAKE, GREENBERG, PILON; NAYES: NONE

  • M2MOTION TO ADJOURN AT 7:28 PM BY RAINVILLE, SECONDED BY BLAKE; ALL IN FAVOR, MOTION CARRIED.

    moved by RAINVILLE, seconded by BLAKE

    Passed

    ALL IN FAVOR, MOTION CARRIED.

    p. 5Meeting Emergency City Council Meeting — Minutes (2020-03-17)MOTION TO ADJOURN AT 7:28 PM BY RAINVILLE, SECONDED BY BLAKE; ALL IN FAVOR, MOTION CARRIED.

Prior history on this business

When someone referred back to earlier business, we found the matching prior discussion and tied it in here.

  • Mayor Pilon explained that the contract that they signed with Capstone Professional Safety Solutions stated professional consulting services related to public safety and emergency management. Council's intention was to utilize Jerry to help us work with our surrounding cities to come up with the best solution for our fire services.

    — Mayor Pilon

    What this is about
    Prior Capstone contract and the city’s earlier intention to use Jerry Streich for fire-service planning and emergency-management consulting.

    p. 3Meeting Emergency City Council Meeting — Minutes (2020-03-17)Mayor Pilon explained that the contract that they signed with Capstone Professional Safety Solutions stated professional consulting services related to public safety and emergency management. Council's intention was to utilize Jerry to help us work with our surrounding cities to come up with the best solution for our f…

    Related history

    The records I searched do not contain a prior decision matching this recollection about a Capstone Professional Safety Solutions contract, Jerry Streich, or using that contract for fire-service planning with surrounding cities. The closest related item in the results is from the April 14, 2022 agenda packet, where Council discussed hiring help for the City Administrator recruitment process and Mayor Pilon requested authorization to enter into a contract with a third party after reviewing the budget. That item appears to concern administrative hiring support, not public-safety, emergency-management, or fire-service consulting.

    • Aug 11, 2022CITY OF NOWTHEN *Claim Register@ 08-11-22 CC Checks 08/09/22 1:14 PM August 2022 Transaction Date 8/11/2022 Due 8/6/2022
    • Apr 14, 2022FIVE AYES c) Discuss City Administrator Position to be Filled, Job Description, Process, Timeline and Participates The c
    • Aug 11, 2022CITY OF NOWTHEN *Claim Register@ 08-11-22 CC Checks 08/09/22 1:14 PM <table> <tr> <td colspan="6">August 2022</td> </tr>
    • May 12, 2022## 6. PLANNING AND ZONING a) Consider Approval of final plat and development agreement of Dryden Acres b) Consider Appro
    • Aug 11, 2022CITY OF NOWTHEN *Claim Register@ 08-11-22 CC Checks August 2022 08/09/22 1:14 PM <table> <tr> <td colspan="2">Claim Type
  • We have legislative language that has been drafted and it began moving forward but then the house shut down and we may or may not have an opportunity yet this year to get that legislation passed.

    — Mayor Pilon

    What this is about
    Prior legislative work related to the city’s fire services project.

    p. 3Meeting Emergency City Council Meeting — Minutes (2020-03-17)We have legislative language that has been drafted and it began moving forward but then the house shut down and we may or may not have an opportunity yet this year to get that legislation passed.

    Related history

    The records I searched do not contain a prior decision or discussion matching Mayor Pilon’s recollection of drafted legislative language for the city’s fire services project, or of that language being delayed because the House shut down. The search results returned unrelated packet material, mostly land-use conditions, subdivisions, cannabis interim use conditions, and court data service language from 2025–2026. None of the results identified a council action, vote, bill language, or legislative update tied to the fire services project.

    • Dec 23, 2025DECISION: Based on the foregoing information and applicable ordinances, the Planning and Zoning Commission recommends ap
    • Sep 23, 2025Option A: The cul-de-sac can be installed in substantial compliance with the Approved Plans and an easement acceptable t
    • May 12, 20267\. LICENSE AND PROTECTION OF PROPRIETARY RIGHTS. During the term of this Subscriber Amendment, subject to the terms and
    • Apr 14, 20266\. The approved total outdoor cultivation area shall not exceed 7000 square feet that is in a fenced and secured area a
    • Mar 24, 20265\. No extraction, production, or retail endorsements have been issued by the OCM. Even if granted by the OCM in the fut
  • The Councils have made a decision to provide additional care and allow the fire departments to respond and our Sheriff's office, because our geography creates a longer response time for the ambulance.

    — Jerry Streich

    What this is about
    Prior council decisions to provide additional medical response through fire departments and the Sheriff’s Office because of ambulance response times.

    p. 5Meeting Emergency City Council Meeting — Minutes (2020-03-17)The Councils have made a decision to provide additional care and allow the fire departments to respond and our Sheriff's office, because our geography creates a longer response time for the ambulance.

    Related history

    The records searched show a partial match, but not the prior council decision described. At the April 14, 2026 meeting, the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office gave its monthly report and said deputies had responded to 147 calls for service in March 2026, including 19 medical calls. The same report also noted the city’s “long-standing partnership” with the Sheriff’s Office, but the minutes do not record a council vote at that meeting to authorize deputies to provide medical response because of ambulance response times. The search results do not contain a matching prior decision involving the fire departments providing additional medical care or first response due to Nowthen’s geography or ambulance response times. They also do not show a formal vote or dollar amount tied to that recollection.

    • Apr 14, 2026### environment that is used only for the storage of regulated products. All regulated cannabis plants and products will
    • Mar 24, 2026### environment that is used only for the storage of regulated products. All regulated cannabis plants and products will
    • Mar 23, 2026# Standard Measures for Cities <table> <tr> <th>Category</th> <th>#</th> <th>Measure</th> <th>Notes:</th> </tr> <tr> <td
    • Apr 14, 20266\. The approved total outdoor cultivation area shall not exceed 7000 square feet that is in a fenced and secured area a
    • Mar 24, 20265\. No extraction, production, or retail endorsements have been issued by the OCM. Even if granted by the OCM in the fut

Where this came up before

  1. Aug 11, 2022
    City Meeting

    CITY OF NOWTHEN *Claim Register@ 08-11-22 CC Checks 08/09/22 1:14 PM August 2022 Transaction Date 8/11/2022 Due 8/6/2022 Checking 10100 Total $3,442.50 Claim Type Claim# 2104131 Sewer

    DocCITY OF NOWTHEN *Claim Register@ 08-11-22 CC Checks 08/09/22 1:14 PM August 2022 Transaction Date 8/11/2022 Due 8/6/2022 Checking 10100 Total $3,442.50 Claim Type Claim# 2104131 Sewer
  2. Apr 14, 2022
    City Meeting

    FIVE AYES c) Discuss City Administrator Position to be Filled, Job Description, Process, Timeline and Participates The city council needs to decide what is the position to be filled. City Clerk, City

    DocFIVE AYES c) Discuss City Administrator Position to be Filled, Job Description, Process, Timeline and Participates The city council needs to decide what is the position to be filled. City Clerk, City Clerk/Treasurer, or City Administrator
  3. Aug 11, 2022
    City Meeting

    CITY OF NOWTHEN *Claim Register@ 08-11-22 CC Checks 08/09/22 1:14 PM <table> <tr> <td colspan="6">August 2022</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2">Cash Payment E 100-42410-310 Professional Ser

    DocCITY OF NOWTHEN *Claim Register@ 08-11-22 CC Checks 08/09/22 1:14 PM <table> <tr> <td colspan="6">August 2022</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2">Cash Payment E 100-42410-310 Professional Ser
  4. May 12, 2022
    City Meeting

    ## 6. PLANNING AND ZONING a) Consider Approval of final plat and development agreement of Dryden Acres b) Consider Approval of Amended CUP for an Extended Home Occupation, 6700 Viking Blvd. Planner St

    Doc## 6. PLANNING AND ZONING a) Consider Approval of final plat and development agreement of Dryden Acres b) Consider Approval of Amended CUP for an Extended Home Occupation, 6700 Viking Blvd. Planner Stockman stated she would recommend tab
  5. Aug 11, 2022
    City Meeting

    CITY OF NOWTHEN *Claim Register@ 08-11-22 CC Checks August 2022 08/09/22 1:14 PM <table> <tr> <td colspan="2">Claim Type</td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Claim#

    DocCITY OF NOWTHEN *Claim Register@ 08-11-22 CC Checks August 2022 08/09/22 1:14 PM <table> <tr> <td colspan="2">Claim Type</td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Claim#

Sources

Documents and recordings archived for this meeting, when available.

Show a sample of the transcript (513 segments, 1:20:30 total)
  • 0:01 alright I'll do this again 607 March 17 2020 special emergency
  • 0:11 meeting of the nylon City Council we
  • 0:18 have the council here comes my blender Blake Joel Greenburg and Brian your jet feline and customary rain bill is here
  • 0:28 remotely and per our regulations under the governor's emergency declaration
  • 0:38 Chapter 12 we are responding remotely as a council we are recording this we also
  • 0:46 have a strike our city clip treasurer commander Wayne heat in the Sheriff's Department and our consultant Jerry
  • 0:56 strike who has been retained for consulting services related to public safety and emergency management and our
  • 1:04 meeting tonight is to talk about the emergency declarations made on the National the federal the state and the
  • 1:13 county level and to address those cities around us that are also declaring emergencies and will be looking to the
  • 1:21 council's decision as to what we want to do here is a city and then we'll be talking about specifics on services
  • 1:28 provided services that we want to make sure we're providing services that may not be provided and so the crisis is
  • 1:37 under control and and then how we want to communicate with our residents what we are going to do an are going to do
  • Showing first 12 segments. Open the YouTube video for the full transcript.

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