ATLANTA — The Atlanta City Council approved several pieces of legislation during Monday’s remote meeting to assist those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, including:
• A resolution establishing a 60-day plan for addressing the impact of COVID-19 on individuals experiencing homelessness who congregate at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (Legislative Reference No. 20-R-3780).
• An ordinance ratifying Executive Order 2020-33 calling on the Atlanta Housing Authority, Atlanta BeltLine Inc., Fulton County/City of Atlanta Land Bank Authority, Invest Atlanta, Partners for Home, and the City of Atlanta’s Department of Grants and Community Development to institute a temporary moratorium on residential evictions and filings for a period of 60 days (Legislative Reference No. 20-O-1297).
• An ordinance ratifying Executive Order 2020-30 to authorize the implementation of a supplement to the Hazard Pay Policy established pursuant to Administrative Order 2020-08 for frontline city of Atlanta employees working in areas necessary for the elimination or reduction of immediate threats to life, public health, or safety due to COVID-19, and whose work could expose them to the virus (Legislative Reference No. 20-O-1298).
• An ordinance ratifying Executive Order 2020-32 postponing the meeting of any City board, authority, commission, committee, or other similar bodies pursuant to Section 3-401 of the City Charter until City Hall and other City facilities reopen to the public (Legislative Reference No. 20-O-1293).
• A resolution requesting the City’s chief health officer to collect demographic data of COVID-19 patients within Atlanta from the Fulton County Board of Health, DeKalb County Board of Health, Georgia Department of Public Health, and/or any other reputable source (Legislative Reference No. 20-R-3777).
• An ordinance ordering the mayor’s Office of Special Events and the Department of Parks and Recreation to refuse to accept new applications for permits or sub-permits for or relating to events held in the city governed by Chapter 142 of the Code of Ordinances and ordering the Atlanta Police Department to refuse to accept new applications for special events governed by Chapter 10, Article II, Division 3 of the Code of Ordinances (Legislative Reference No. 20-O-1296).
• A resolution directing Invest Atlanta to defer all start-up small business loans issued between September 14, 2019 and March 14, 2020 for a minimum of one year (Legislative Reference No. 20-R-3779).
• A resolution urging Invest Atlanta to implement a policy to forgive all loans provided to small businesses from the business continuity loan fund, which was established in response to the COVID-19 pandemic (Legislative Reference No. 20-R-3782).
• A resolution to urge the city of Atlanta to support local businesses and shorten the supply chain by locally sourcing COVID-19-related equipment and supplies from local businesses and suppliers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic emergency (Legislative Reference No. 20-R-3784).
• A resolution authorizing the city of Atlanta to accept donations in support of the performance of its functions during the COVID-19 pandemic from individuals, entities, and organizations of cash, goods, and services in a total amount not to exceed $5 million through Dec. 31, 2020 (Legislative Reference No. 20-R-3787).
The Council also immediately approved a resolution condemning racist words and actions targeting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and requesting that the Atlanta Police Department do everything in its power to investigate and arrest those carrying out illegal bias-motivated crimes against any targeted community.
Council members introduced several items for consideration in committee meetings next week, including:
• An ordinance authorizing the mayor or her designee on behalf of the City of Atlanta to substantially amend the City’s 2015-2019 Consolidated Plan for the purpose of entering into various emergency agreements with project sponsors to provide emergency support to vulnerable populations during the COVID-19 pandemic using funds available to the City through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
• A resolution requesting the commissioner of the Atlanta Department of Transportation close select streets and/or traffic lanes to motorized vehicular traffic and open them to pedestrians and cyclists.
• An ordinance to ratify the mayor’s executive order directing the City’s chief financial officer to allocate up to $1.5 million in funds by transferring uncommitted fund balance from the general fund for the purpose of contributing emergency assistance to fund efforts of the nonprofit and philanthropic communities to provide individual shelter options with supportive services for persons experiencing homelessness.
• An ordinance authorizing the chief financial officer to create a Code Enforcement Trust Fund.
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