To: Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council
From: Steve Potter, City Manager
Prepared By: Liz Habkirk, Deputy City Manager
TITLE:
Title
Proclamation of Local Emergency to Respond to the Coronavirus (COVID-19)
LABEL
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommendation
Adopt a resolution ratifying and continuing the Proclamation of Local Emergency to respond to the Coronavirus (COVID-19), and authorizing the use of remote teleconferencing provisions for City Council meetings pursuant to Government Code Section 54953(e).
Body
DISCUSSION:
The catastrophic coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has severely impacted the community of residents, businesses, property owners, and visitors that are served by the City of Napa; and it has concurrently and similarly severely impacted the operations and services that are provided by the City’s governmental organization to the community. Accordingly, on March 15, 2020, the City Manager issued a Proclamation of Local Emergency to Respond to the Coronavirus (Proclamation No. P2020-001), which was ratified by City Council on March 16, 2020. The ongoing impacts of COVID-19 on the community and the City’s operations have been documented and described in public reports to support the City Council’s continuation of the Local Emergency on March 31, 2020, and at every regular Council meeting thereafter, most recently on January 4, 2022. The City Manager also issued Proclamations No. P2020-002, P2020-003, P2020-004, P2020-005, P2020-006 and P2021-001 in response to specific actions taken to help mitigate the impacts of COVID-19.
Since the last report to the City Council, the City Manager has determined that the conditions of local emergency continue to exist in the City, and the City Manager has taken additional administrative actions in implementation of the Proclamation of Local Emergency.
These administrative actions have included the direction to staff restricting in-person meetings whenever possible, encouraging departments to allow staff to work from home when appropriate and updating the City’s COVID-19 Preparedness and Response Plan in relation to updated guidance from the State of California Department of Public Health and the CDC.
Additionally, after consideration of the potential for large gatherings and the ability to safely accommodate public meetings, the City Manager has directed the transition of the City Council, Housing Authority, Redistricting and Planning Commission meetings to a virtual platform in light of the recent surge in COVID-19 cases due to the highly transmissible “Omicron Variant.” On January 7, 2022, the Napa County Public Health Officer reported 880 new cases from December 31, 2021 to January 6, 2021, a 113% increase over the prior week which was already demonstrating evidence of a surge within the community.
The City Manager has determined that the state of emergency directly impacts the ability of members of the City Council to meet safely as a result of the threat of COVID-19, and today’s resolution certifies the City’s compliance with the teleconferencing requirements and of Government Code Section 54953(e). The Planning Commission will be adopting a separate resolution in compliance with the Government Code.
Because the impacts of COVID-19, and the City’s actions in response, continue to evolve, City staff will provide an update to the status of those impacts and actions during the Council meeting.
Staff recommends that the City Council continue the Proclamation of Local Emergency authorizing the City Manager to take actions necessary to respond to the Coronavirus (COVID-19); and ratify the administrative actions taken by the City Manager in implementation of the Proclamation of Local Emergency, as summarized in this report and as will be presented during the Council meeting on February 1, 2022. Consistent with Napa Municipal Code Section 2.89.060, the City Manager will return to City Council, at least every 21 days, to review the need to continue the local emergency efforts.
FINANCIAL IMPACTS:
The future financial impact is unclear at this time, and so there are no impacts by this action; however, continuation of the emergency will facilitate the ability for the City to request resources including financial support and reimbursement from the State Office of Emergency Services (OES) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for costs incurred as a result of the City’s response to COVID-19.
CEQA:
The City Manager has determined that the recommended action described in this agenda report is not subject to CEQA, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15060(c).
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
ATCH 1 - Resolution
EX A - Proclamation No. P2022-001
NOTIFICATION:
None