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HomeMy WebLinkAboutReg 2020-06-15 Item 4A - COVID-19 - Weekly Coronavirus ReportCOUNCIL AGENDA SYNOPSIS ITEMNO. Meeting Date Prepared by Mayor's review Council review 6/15/20 RB ITEM INFORMATION STAFF SPONSOR: RACHEL BIANCHI ORIGINAL AGENDA DATE: 6/15/20 AGENDA ITEM TITLE A weekly update on the City's planning and response to COVID-19 (Coronavirus) CATEGORY ® Discussion Mtg Date 06115120 ❑ Motion Mtg Date ❑ Resolution Mtg Date ❑ Ordinance Mtg Date ❑ MAavard Mtg Date ❑ Pubbc Heating Mtg Date ❑ Other Mtg Date SPONSOR ❑ Council ® Mayor ❑ HR ❑ DCD ❑ Finance ❑ Fire ❑ TS ❑ P&R ❑ Pobce ❑ PlV SPONSOR'S 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 06/15/20 MTG. DATE ATTACHMENTS 06/15/20 Coronavirus Report RN ez Coronavirus Response Update June 15, 2020 Essential Services and City Operations There are no changes to essential services or City operations since the last report. The City is continuing to refine a reopening plan corresponding with the State's "Safe Start" phased approach to reopening the state. It should be noted that only in Phase 3 do they recommend re -opening customer -facing government services, and even at that time telework is still strongly encouraged for non -customer facing positions. Financial Stability At the May 18 City Council meeting the Council approved various measures for the mayor to implement to address the revenue shortfalls associated with the coronavirus pandemic. As discussed above, the staff -related measures have been implemented since the last report. In addition, Council will continue to refine the direction to staff on capital projects at the June 8 meeting, specifically regarding overlay, siding on the TCC and the new facilities/seismic study. The Council will continue to receive regular updates on the progress of implementation. Police Staffing and Calls for Service There have been no changes to Police staffing since the last report. Fire Staff ine and Calls for Service There have been no changes to Fire staffing since the last report. Human Services HS staff has served an additional three households this week, consisting of four residents. All are impacted by COVID wage loss. Staff has spent $19,488 this month on rental assistance and has a current balance remaining of $2,039 for rent/utility assistance for the remainder of June. Staff has assisted 17 households so far this month. Funding sources include the 1406 emergency rental assistance in conjunction with typical human services general fund emergency assistance dollars. We have been able to access an additional $3000 in 'patchwork funds' that one of our funded agencies set aside specifically for Tukwila residents. This week staff worked with three families that owed between $4400 and $6600 in back rent (3-4 months). HS staff continues to get referrals from our multi-lingual partners at TSD. Using our multi-lingual partners, the Language Line and translating via Google text, we continue to remove barriers to accessing critical services for some of our most vulnerable residents. As a reminder, the City has a lifetime cap of $1,200 for each Tukwila household for rental/utility assistance. RR Business Recove Business Re -Openings On June 5 King County entered into in a Modified Phase 1 of Washington's "Safe Start" four phase business reopening plan. During this phase, in addition to essential business activities, most business activities from Phase 2 are allowed to open but under additional limitations such as reduced seating and time serving customers. Business activities that may restart include: dine -in restaurants and taverns (up to 25% of indoor occupancy and 50% of outdoor capacity), in-store retail (up to 15% of maximum occupancy and indoor services to 30 minutes), manufacturing, professional services, and personal services. It includes requirements for physical distancing, employees to wear cloth face coverings (there are exceptions) and other procedures. Westfield Southcenter plans to reopen (following the restrictions) on June 15. Business Resources During the week of 6/8 staff sent emails to all businesses with updates announcing that King County is now in a Modified Phase 1, suggested other resources provided by the local Chamber of Commerce, and encouraged them to consider applying for the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). If you know a small business who has not applied for PPP, or who considered it a few weeks ago and decided to not apply, please encourage them to consider it again. Recently Congress approved important changes to the program. These changes include extending the timelines for loan forgiveness, rehiring, repayment, and the covered period for the loan, and lowering the amount of the loan that must be spent on payroll. The program still has $130 billion to lend but the application deadline is June 30. The Planning and Economic Development Committee is scheduled to discuss business recovery grant opportunities during their meeting on 6/15. Business Survey Economic Development staff will continue calling businesses to survey their impact and needs related to COVID- 19. We recently sent a link to the remaining businesses to complete the survey online. We will report results within the next two weeks. Savin gLocal KC. com Staff is requesting additional lodging tax funds to help build and maintain Saving Local, King County through the year. LTAC is scheduled to consider the request on June 12 and the City Council on June 15. :• Meetine our Communitv's Basic Needs Food Security There was a slight decrease in the amount of people served by the Pantry this week, potentially due to the difficult weather on Tuesday. The other distribution days saw the same number of people, roughly between 400 and 500 per distribution day. The City is a part of a larger group — including the school district, Tukwila Pantry, Stillwaters, Impact Schools and Tukwila Children's Foundation — working on how to address the gap in food service for students between when the school year ends and summer school food service begins. Additionally, the summer meal program does not start up until July 1. City staff are involved in this effort. In addition, four AmeriCorp/HungerCorp will be assigned to Tukwila for food distribution and are available to help City staff with senior and summer meals, as well as assist Stillwaters and the Pantry. 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. Staff delivered to 69 households, consisting of 512 meals. Students To date, we have deployed over 500 MyFi devices to families that need the service. The hotspots are free for families that have need, and the service plan lasts for 6 months with unlimited data. Families can connect up to 10 devices on one mobile hotspot. 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. RN