5-18-20 BOC Regular Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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County Manager's Report — May 18, 2020 CORONAVIRUS UPDATE County Re-opening Plans — Each department that sent employees home to telework, has been developing a plan to begin bringing employees back into the work place. I have received all of the Department plans as of May 15. I am still reviewing each plan and we are beginning to put programs and building plans in place. A tentative timeline — which is listed below — was used to set each Departments plan in motion. These plans are flexible and can be modified at any time. In addition, we are developing new work rules for employees to follow when we re-open our facilities. Our goal is to have these policies ready by June 1. On Wednesday May 20, County staff will meet with the Superior Court Judge, District Attorney, and Clerk of Court to begin discussions on re-starting court sessions. We expect to address the layout of each courtroom for court sessions along with needed PPE and cleaning of the facilities. This could be a very expensive and time-consuming process. Who will be responsible for all of this will be discussed, but we should remember that the Superior Court judge has the authority to order the Commissioners to support court operations in any way he sees is necessary. This is an issue we need to address with our local legislative delegation. North Carolina Coronavirus Relief Fund — This fund was set up by the Legislature as a result of the Coronavirus Relief Act passed by the President and Congress. Out of the $2.4 Billion allocated to the State of North Carolina, $300 Million was allocated to Counties in the State. It was the intent of the Legislature that these funds be shared with the Municipalities in the County. The State as set aside $150 million in what is being called the first phase of the grant funding process. Lee County's allocation is $1,250,000. A budget is being developed that must be sent to the State by June 1, 2020. We have asked the City of Sanford and the Town of Broadway to assist in putting this budget together. I have attached a list of eligible expenses that are associated with the fund. PPE, equipment for sanitizing work places, additional staff used to clean and any other items that are determined to be needed for direct response to the COVID-19 virus will be our priorities. Small Business Loans—Attached are documents related to the establishment of a small business loan fund (School of Government Guidelines). The purpose of the fund would be to assist small businesses who are having trouble paying bills because of the pandemic shutdown. Three examples of county plans are included in the documents (Buncombe, Orange, & Person Counties). All of these plans limit the loans to between $5,000 and $10,000. Most keep employee limits to 10 or less. Businesses must have been turned down by SBA for a loan through the COVID-19 federal program. Other limits can be placed on the loans that are important to the Lee County community. This program would need to be coordinated through our economic development partners due to the administration of the program and if the State of North Carolina Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) is used.