To: Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council
From: Steve Potter, City Manager
Prepared By: Tiffany Carranza, City Clerk
TITLE:
Title
Proclamation of Local Emergency to Respond to the Coronavirus (COVID-19)
LABEL
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommendation
Adopt a resolution Continuing the Proclamation of Local Emergency, and Authorizing the City Manager to take actions necessary as the Director of Emergency Services, to Respond to the Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Body
DISCUSSION:
The catastrophic coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has severely impacted the community of residents, businesses, properties 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, which was ratified by City Council on March 16, 2020.
The City Manager has determined that the conditions of local emergency continue to exist in the City, and therefore recommends that the City Council adopt the resolution attached to this report to continue the proclamation of local emergency in order to respond to COVID-19. Because the impacts of COVID-19 are evolving so fast and continuously, City staff will provide an update on the status of the impacts of COVID-19 during the Council meeting.
While the impacts of COVID-19 were first detected outside the United States in December 2019, the first case of COVID-19 in the Bay Area was reported from Solano County in February 26, 2020. On March 4, 2020, Governor Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency in California; and on March 12, 2020, the Governor issued Executive Order N-25-20, establishing additional resources and approaches to be taken in response to COVID-19. On March 12, 2020, the Napa County Public Health Officer proclaimed the existence of a local health emergency due to the imminent and proximate threat to public health from the introduction of COVID-19 in Napa County. On March 13, 2020, the President of the United States declared a national emergency.
As noted above, on March 15, 2020, the City Manager proclaimed the existence of a local emergency to respond to the Coronavirus (COVID-19), which was ratified by the City Council on March 16, 2020.
On March 18, 2020, the Napa County Public Health Officer declared a Shelter at Home order effective March 20, 2020 through April 7, 2020. Essentially, in order to slow the spread of COVID-19, the Health Officer’s Order requires: (a) all individuals living in Napa County to shelter at home, except to perform certain Essential Activities, or to provide or receive Essential Governmental Functions or to operate Essential Businesses; and (b) all non-Essential Businesses with a facility in Napa County to cease all activities except Minimum Basic Operations.
On March 19, 2020 the Governor issued Executive Order N-33-20, a statewide stay-at-home order in response to COVID-19. Similar to the Health Officer’s Order, the Governor’s Order directs all individuals living in the State of California to shelter at home, except to provide or receive certain essential services, or to maintain continuity of critical infrastructure sectors.
Concurrent with the “shelter at home” and “stay-at-home” orders issued by the County and the State, “Social Distancing Requirements” were imposed on any public activities (e.g., Essential Activities, Essential Governmental Functions, or Essential Businesses), consistent with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”), in order to slow the spread of COVID-19, which generally includes maintaining a minimum distance of six-feet between each person, regularly washing and sanitizing hands, minimizing touching the face, and regularly cleaning high-touch surfaces
As a result of the unprecedented impacts of COVID-19, including the impacts of the shelter at home and social distancing requirements summarized herein, many local businesses and hotels in the City have been forced to close, and it is anticipated that one of the City’s most important sources of revenue (transient occupancy tax, “TOT”) will be substantially impacted, with a loss of approximately $10,000,000 for the current fiscal year through June 30, 2020, and projected losses beyond the current fiscal year that may meet or exceed $15,000,000 per year. As a part of the recommended resolution continuing the local emergency declaration, staff recommends that Council provide direction to reappraise available resources and budgetary priorities, to be brought back to the City Council for evaluation and action, in order to mitigate the financial impacts of this local emergency
As a part of the report to Council, staff will also provide an update of the substantial impacts of COVID-19 on City operations, along with plans for how to address those impacts on a going forward basis, including impacts on services provided by City staff, as well as the scheduling of future actions to be taken by legislative bodies of the City (including the Council, Housing Authority, and Planning Commission).
One way in which City staff is improving the efficiency of services provided to the community is through electronic tools, including City staff who now telecommute to work, and meetings that are conducted electronically. To facilitate these technological improvements, the City Manager is proposing to contract with TPx Communications, in an amount not to exceed $763,000, to provide services over a 60-month term, which include: (1) a fivefold increase in Internet bandwidth improving teleworking through high-quality audio and video; (2) full access to internal City applications, including Water Utility billing, Permit Tracking, and Finance; and (3) increased voice and data resiliency between the 911 Dispatch primary and backup facility allowing for both dispatch centers to operate in tandem. These enhanced telecommunications services will result in an annual savings of $55,000 over currently in place telecommunications services.
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt a resolution continuing the City Manager’s Proclamation of Local Emergency in Response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19). 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, adoption of this resolution 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
NOTIFICATION:
None