To: Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council
From: Steve Potter, City Manager
Prepared By: Liz Habkirk, Assistant City Manager
TITLE:
Title
Proclamation of Local Emergency to Respond to the Coronavirus (COVID-19)
LABEL
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommendation
Continue the Proclamation of Local Emergency authorizing the City Manager to take actions necessary to respond to the Coronavirus (COVID-19); and ratify actions taken by the City Manager in implementation of the Proclamation of Local Emergency.
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 February 1, 2022. The City Manager also issued Proclamations No. P2020-002, P2020-003, P2020-004, P2020-005, P2020-006, P2021-001, P2021-002 and P2022-001 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. 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.
Additionally, the City Manager has issued Proclamation P2022-002 which will extend the expiration of the current outdoor commercial uses and parklet permits from February 28, 2022 to August 31, 2022. Staff from the Community Development Department are actively engaged in updating the necessary ordinances and program components for the permanent program based on the direction provided by the City Council in November 2021. However, that work is not yet complete and in order to continue the current uses an extension is necessary. Staff will seek to have the program updates completed by the new termination date. If the program is completed sooner, businesses with current outdoor use permits will be required to transition to the permanent program prior to August 31, 2022. Staff continue to communicate with impacted businesses as they facilitate updates.
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 15, 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 - Proclamation P2022-002
NOTIFICATION:
None