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HomeMy WebLinkAboutReg 2020-05-04 Item 4A - COVID-19 - Coronavirus Weekly UpdateCOUNCIL AGENDA SYNOPSIS ----------------------------------Initials Meeting Date P rep ared b_y Mayor's review Council review 5/4/20 RB ITEM INFORMATION ITEMIVO. 4.A. STAFF SPONSOR: RACHEL BIANCHI ORIGINAL AGENDA DATE: 5/4/20 AGENDA ITEM TITLE A weekly update on the City's planning and response to COVID-19 (Coronavirus) CATEGORY ® Discussion Mtg Date 04/27/20 ❑ Motion Me Date ❑ Resolution Aft g Date ❑ Ordinance Me Date ❑ Bid Award Mt Date ❑ Public Hearing g Date Aft ❑ Other Mtg Date SPONSOR ❑ Council ® Mayor ❑ HR ❑ DCD ❑ Finance ❑ Fire ❑ TS ❑ P&R ❑ Police ❑ Ply SPONSORS The City is actively engaged in regional efforts to address the coronavirus (COVID-19). SUMMARY Staff are providing the Council with updated information regarding the City's response to COVID-19. REVIEWED BY ❑ Trans&Infrastructure ❑ CommunitySvs/Safety ❑ Finance Com ❑ Planning/Economic Dev. ❑ LTAC ❑ Arts Comm. ❑ Parks Comm. ❑ Planning Comm. DATE: N/A COMMITTEE CHAIR: RECOMMENDATIONS: SPONSOR/ADMIN. N/A COMMITTEE N/A COST IMPACT / FUND SOURCE EXPENDITURE REQUIRED AMOUNT BUDGETED APPROPRIATION REQUIRED Fund Source: Comments: MTG. DATE RECORD OF COUNCIL ACTION 05/4/20 MTG. DATE ATTACHMENTS 05/4/20 Coronavirus Report Coronavirus Response Update May 4, 2020 Essential Services and City Operations There have been no changes to essential services. The City continues to follow the state guidance on other city operations. Due to the Governor's recent order opening up some recreation activities, including golf courses, the City is following the state guidelines and will be opening up the Foster Golf Course on May 5. The City is also following the state's guidance on construction activity within the city. We will continue to monitor and plan for upcoming guidance for other services. Financial Stabil On Monday, April 13, 2020 Finance Department staff began working with the Council's Finance Committee to determine next steps as the City identifies how it will fully close the financial gap associated with the coronavirus pandemic. The Finance Committee met again on Tuesday, April 21, Monday, April 27, 2020, and Tuesday, April 28, 2020. The full Council began discussions on this at the April 27 Committee of the Whole meeting with follow-up discussions and possible decisions to be made at upcoming regular meetings. Revenue impacts were discussed, and possible options will be presented to align revenues to expenses in the near future that will include additional budget, program and position reductions since the Coronavirus financial impacts are expected to extend into 2021 and beyond. Additional information is provided in the April 29, 2020 Financial Outlook Informational Memorandum included in the May 4, 2020 Council packet. Police Staffing and Calls for Service There have been no changes to Police staffing since the last report. Calls for service are analyzed on a monthly basis and staff will report April statistics at the end of the month. Fire Staffing and Calls for Service There have been no changes to Fire staffing since the last report. Calls for service are analyzed on a monthly basis and staff will report April statistics at the end of the month. Human Services Human Services data, similar to that for Police and Fire, are analyzed on a monthly basis and staff will report April statistics at the end of the month. Anecdotally, staff has shared that their call volume continues to be significantly higher than normal, and they have been helping residents on a variety of issues, including: • Requests for rental assistance • Requests for utility assistance for Tukwila customers • Filling out paperwork associated with PSE's up to $1,000 utility credit • Referring people to Seattle City Light and other utilities low-income/senior discount programs • Help tracking down stimulus checks, tax refunds and file for unemployment • Identifying and referring other resources that residents could qualify for in the community • Referral to Tukwila Food Pantry and the Senior door drop lunch program Human Services staff will begin distributing the HB 1406 funds the first week of May as rental assistance requests come in. Human Services staff collaborated with Finance Staff to ensure the City could make direct payments to landlords, after proper paperwork is received, thereby saving significant funds that would have had to be spent on administration fees through one of the City's non-profit partners. Staff expects to spend the Council -authorized amount of HB 1406 funds collected up through February of this year. Staff will return to Council on May 18 with a more thorough update on the disbursement of HB 1406 funds. Human Services staff will be working with residents to "patchwork" funding together to cover what is expected to be two to three months of unpaid rent. Thanks to a generous set -aside from the Tukwila Children's Foundation, staff is able to utilize $4500 in April and $4500 in May as 'patchwork' funds for residents with children. Staff will collect all appropriate documentation including an intake, send TCF finance team check requests that they will distribute to identified/verified landlords/property owners. Staff continues to work to identify and leverage other programs that residents may qualify for to add additional funds (such as partner organizations that received Seattle Foundation disbursements, King County Bar Association and others) so that residents can cover as much of the unpaid rent as possible. Staff recognizes that the reality is that most people who will be able to return to work and begin earning income again will be working to pay the following month's rent and not able to earn enough to pay previous months' back rent. Calls for rental and other assistance appear to be coming from a wide variety of residents from diverse language and racial backgrounds. Staff has spoken with a number of people who speak Somali, Spanish and many of Asian heritage. Most of these individuals were previously employed prior to the coronavirus pandemic, many in the hospitality and "gig" sectors, such as driving for Lyft or Uber, or cleaning Air B&Bs. Staff is also carefully following the furloughs and layoffs at the airport, as many Tukwila residents are employed there, and airport contractors are undertaking a large number of furloughs and layoffs right now with the decline in travel. Business Recovery The Governor's Stay Home Stay Healthy order is still in effect through May 4 and non -essential businesses are required to be closed. In Tukwila, in Tukwila, compliance appears to continue to be high with many businesses still closed. The Governor announced some lifting of restrictions: • Current construction projects are allowed to restart, following specific safety procedures. • Restrictions on outdoor recreation, including golf, will be lifted starting May 5. • The Governor issued guidance to clarify limits on non -urgent medical procedures. These clarifications will allow some additional medical procedures to be conducted. On April 29, the Governor announced a new COVID-19 Risk Assessment Dashboard which the State will use for determining when and how to best lift restrictions in the Stay Home Stay Healthy order. The five indicators are: Disease Activity, Testing Capacity and Availability, Case and Contact Investigations, Risk to Vulnerable Populations, and Health Care System Readiness. Future updates from the Governor on these indicators may help us predict lifting of restrictions on consumers and businesses. As of April 30, we anticipate the Governor will extend the Stay Home Stay Healthy order and are awaiting an announcement. Economic Development staff is working with multiple chambers of commerce to invite businesses in Tukwila and across the region to participate in the Saving Local campaign, which was initiated and managed by the City of Tukwila and funded by lodging tax. Next week we will start marketing the website to consumers. The program is intended to help small businesses by enabling them to sell gift cards or certificates online now that can be used when they reopen. More at www.savinglocalkc.com. Staff sent all Tukwila businesses an email with information on participating in the Saving Local campaign. During the week of May 5, the business survey will be posted online, and Parks and Recreation staff will start calling businesses to conduct the survey. We anticipate reporting on results by the end of May. A full business recovery update memo is included in the packet for the Planning and Economic Development Committee meeting scheduled for May 5, 2020. Meetine our Communitv's Basic Needs Food Security City staff are in communication with a variety of partners that serve our community. The Tukwila Pantry continues to serve several hundreds of families at each distribution event, and it appears the numbers are growing. The National Guard has deployed four members to assist in food prep and distribution. The City has loaned the Pantry a refrigerated truck to store perishable foods. Staff from Parks and Recreation and one from Community Services and Engagement continue to assist the Pantry in packaging food for families as well as food distribution. The Pantry is low on donations; the City used its social media platforms to ask the community for additional supplies. Staff are working to determine whether reimbursable FEMA funds can be used for this purpose. Seniors City staff again supported our senior community through direct food distribution to homebound residents. Staff calls residents on Monday and Tuesday, to set up a Wednesday meal delivery. This week staff delivered 550 meals to seniors (multiple meals to each individual), a decrease from last week where approximately 674 meals were delivered. The City has spent just over $14,000 on senior meals, with the funding coming from the King County Seniors and Veterans levy. Staff are working to determine whether reimbursable FEMA funds can be used for this purpose. Students Technology and Innovation Services (TIS) staff report that the entire hotspot inventory has been exhausted. We are currently work with AT&T on a resupply of another 300 devices. Public Safety Plan Construction Projects There have been no changes to the Public Safety Plan projects since the last report. Compliance with the Governor's Order There have been no changes to compliance issues since the last report. 91