HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/26/2021CC
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
Feb. 26, 2021 TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council FROM: Christian Clegg, City Manager SUBJECT: General Information
Notable Items
The City of Bakersfield continues to look for ways to support the local business
community impacted by the pandemic, and this week – in partnership with Access
Plus Capital – we launched the Microenterprise ReSTART Grant Program. This program
makes $70,000 available to Bakersfield businesses with five or fewer full-time
employees and that have not received any previous COVID-19 funding. Qualified
applicants will receive grants of $3,500 to $5,000 which can be used to pay various
costs including payroll costs, insurance, rent, materials and more. Access Plus Capital
will administer the program on behalf of the City due to their previous success with similar programs for other cities.
Applications for the ReSTART Grant Program will be accepted through March 3.
If you’ve headed over to www.bakersfieldcity.us over the last day or so, you’ll have
noticed a new look to the City’s website. With user habits changing and leaning towards mobile devices more over the last few years, it was time for an upgrade. The
new City of Bakersfield website is more than just a fresh look, however, bringing new features to residents and other users, including the ability to sign up for alerts when
news they’re interested in is posted on the site.
I’d also like to thank Public Information Officer Joe Conroy, Technology Systems Supervisor Katie Reed and Technology Systems Analyst Tom Webster who led this
redesign effort, as well as countless other City staff members who helped make this
project and its launch a success.
Visit Bakersfield is proud to be a digital media sponsor for Bakersfield Museum of Art’s Winter Exhibitions. While the current restrictions prohibit in-person visits, BMoA is
welcoming online tours and is promoting virtual viewing of its three exhibits: The
Bakersfield Sound: Roll Out the Red Carpet, Color + Figure - Paintings by Linda
Christensen, and Uncommon Perspective - Paintings by Art Sherwyn. This new
General Information Feb. 26, 2021 Page 2
approach required a different strategy to reach potential viewers who would be interested in these exhibits, and both Visit Bakersfield and American General Media
are sponsoring BMoA’s digital marketing efforts.
BMoA is offering digital 360 viewing of the exhibits, as well as allowing for 3D virtual reality (VR) tours for those with VR goggles. View all three exhibits online free through
August 28 at bmoa.org.
The City’s Solid Waste Division held two
more pop-up drive-thru trash drop-off events on Saturday, February 13 at
Mechanics Bank Arena and Aera Park
(right). Almost 900 vehicles passed through
the two locations this past weekend,
bringing more than 55 tons of trash and
recycling, nearly as much as was collected
during the two previous weekend
events combined (more than 60 tons).
The trash drop-off opportunities are part of
Bakersfield’s Clean City Initiative, to help
improve the look of the City for residents and visitors. More pop-up events like this are
planned and will be announced in the future.
Visit Bakersfield and The Historic Fox Theater are partnering up again to make live
music performances available to residents again, despite the pandemic. Live Stream Vaccine: The Second Dose kicks off on Friday, March 12 at 7 p.m. with Big Elk, Gregor
Ross and Chris Elkins on stage. This series is sponsored by Visit Bakersfield and can be watched FREE on the 23ABC mobile app (available on your mobile device, ROKU,
Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV) or you can watch it on the Fox Theater’s Facebook page.
The recently launched Clean City Initiative clean-up crews continue to make a
difference across Bakersfield. February is the first full month of action for the teams
General Information Feb. 26, 2021 Page 3
after launching at the end of January. Through Friday, February 19, 199 bags worth of trash have been collected, 83 mattresses have been removed from the streets, and
37 couches have been disposed of. These teams from the Bakersfield Homeless Center and the California Highway Adoption Company are funded by the Public
Safety & Vital Services (PSVS) Measure, also known as Measure N.
A pair of projects the Recreation and Parks Department has been working on were recently
completed: a playground rehabilitation project
at Tevis Park and the fitness equipment area at Kaiser Permanente Sports Village in southwest
Bakersfield. The Tevis Park playground (right) was
re-opened to the public on Friday, February 19,
with improvements including a new shade over
the equipment, rubber surfacing for the 2- to 5-
year-olds play area and the 5- to 12-year-olds
area. Concrete repairs were also finished around
the nearby picnic shelter. A new drinking
fountain is also scheduled to be installed.
At the Sports Village, the fitness equipment area
(below) opened on Tuesday, February 23,
featuring a large shaded area with four
individual work stations, two multi-work areas,
new benches and new safety surfacing.
The deadline for community feedback about the Transformative Climate Communities Plan is this weekend. The City needs feedback by Sunday, February 28.
This input will help the City build a plan to revitalize the Downtown, Old Town Kern,
Oleander, Sunset, and Lakeview communities. Anyone interested in the plan can
check it out here, see past community meeting videos about the plan and send
feedback to the email provided on the website.
General Information Feb. 26, 2021 Page 4
The annual Battle of the Badges blood drive wrapped up this week, with nearly 100 units collected during the two-day event! (right and below) At the end of the friendly
competition, the Bakersfield Fire Department donated the most units at 38, followed by the
Bakersfield Police Department’s 28; the Kern County Fire Department donated 20 and the
Sheriff’s Office contributed 16. The 94 units collected will go to as many as 282 patients
at region hospitals.
The March low-cost vaccine and licensing clinic hosted by the City’s Animal Care
Center will be held on Saturday, March 6 at Beale Park (500 Oleander Drive) from 9
a.m. to noon. This program has proved to be quite successful, with 338 vaccines given
and 190 licenses issued during February’s clinic at Jefferson Park. Traffic Advisories
Closure planned for eastbound Westside Parkway on-ramp at Calloway Drive
The City of Bakersfield will close the eastbound entrance ramp to the Westside Parkway
from northbound Calloway Drive from 6 a.m. to noon on Saturday, February 27.
This closure is needed in order to complete street marking work in the area. Drivers are
asked to plan to use alternate routes during this project.
The City of Bakersfield’s Streets Division thanks the public for its understanding and
cooperation during the completion of these improvements.
City Manager’s Office
1600 Truxtun Avenue, Bakersfield, CA 93301
661-326-3751 FAX: 661-324-1850
MEDIA ADVISORY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, Feb. 22, 2021
CONTACT: Joe Conroy Public Information Officer
661-326-3074 JConroy@bakersfieldcity.us CITY OF BAKERSFIELD PARTNERS WITH ACCESS PLUS CAPITAL ON NEW MICROENTERPRISE GRANT PROGRAM
In continuing effort to help local businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, the City
of Bakersfield is partnering with Access Plus Capital to make financial support
available to microenterprises within the City limits.
The Microenterprise ReSTART Grant Program – funded by Community Development
Block Grant Coronavirus (CDBG-CV) funds – will provide $70,000 in grants ranging
from $3,500 to $5,000 for qualified microenterprises, defined as having five or fewer
full-time employees.
Online applications for the ReSTART Grant Program open at 8 a.m. on Wednesday,
February 24. Grants are expected to be awarded to approved businesses by March
19. Businesses interested in applying should visit accesspluscapital.com and click on
“COVID-19 Relief Funds.”
These grants can be used for working capital, including paying payroll costs like
employee vacation, family or sick leave, as well as insurance, rent, supplies or
materials, utilities, and more.
These grants will target businesses that have not previously received other disaster
relief funding such as the Paycheck Protection Program, a Small Business Association
Economic Injury Disaster Relief Loan or a grant from the City of Bakersfield B-CARES
program.
Access Plus Capital will administer the program on behalf of the City as their
experience with business loans and CDBG programs, internal capacity and previous
work with Central Valley cities positions them to succeed in running the loan and
grant programs.
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City of Bakersfield Microenterprise ReSTART Grant Program
Grant Amount
$3,500 (self-
employed)
$5,000 (2-5
employees)
Credit Report:
Required to verify
business owner has
not filed for
bankruptcy in the
last 3 years or has
outstanding tax
liens.
Eligible Uses:
Working Capital
(Payroll costs,
including costs for
employee vacation,
parental, family,
medical, and sick
leave, employee
related insurance,
rent, inventory,
supplies/materials,
utilities, professional
services, and more)
Geography:
City of Bakersfield
Grant Program Guidelines:
1. Applicants shall be a for profit business physically located and operating in the City
of Bakersfield, with a demonstrated economic need and negatively impacted by
COVID19.
2. Grant funds will target microenterprises where the owner qualifies as a
low/moderate income household or if the grant funds are used to retain/create low
income moderate jobs.
3. Grants must be limited to (1) loan per business entity
4. Business must have 5 full time equivalent employees or less. Self-employed business
owners are eligible for up to $3,500.
5. Business applicant will NOT be eligible to apply, if business has been approved or has
received disaster relief funding such as Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), SBA
Economic Injury Disaster Relief Loan or B-CARES Grant Program.
6. Business applicant must have no outstanding local, state, federal tax liens nor
judgments.
7. Applicants must have no bankruptcies within the last three years; bankruptcies must
have a discharge date dating back at least three (3) years at time of grant
application.
8. Business applicant must demonstrate and certify that it has been operating for at least
one full year prior to today.
9. Loan proceeds can be used for working capital and may go toward business expenses,
such as: Payroll costs, including costs for employee vacation, parental, family, medical,
and sick leave, employee related insurance, rent, inventory, supplies/materials, utilities,
professional services, and more.
10. Grant awardees will be required to sign a grant agreement and submit a W-9 form.
City of Bakersfield Microenterprise ReSTART Grant Program
Checklist
A. Application Documents
Grant Application
Owner (s) Driver’s License or Identification
City of Bakersfield Business License (issued a year prior to date of grant application)
Payroll Employee Report (will be used to verify number of employees is less than 5)
Entity Formation Documentation:
a. Corporation:
Articles of Incorporation & By-Laws
b. Limited Liability Company:
Articles of Organization & Operating Agreement
c. Limited Partnership or General Partnership:
Partnership Agreement
d. Sole Proprietor: Fictitious Business Name Statement
B. Post Approval
Loan Closing Documents- Grant Agreement
Duplication of Benefits Certification for CDBG-CV funds
W-9
Voided Check
City Manager’s Office
1600 Truxtun Avenue, Bakersfield, CA 93301
661-326-3751 FAX: 661-324-1850
MEDIA ADVISORYFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021
CONTACT: Joe Conroy
Public Information Officer 661-326-3074
JConroy@bakersfieldcity.us CITY OF BAKERSFIELD LAUNCHES WEBSITE REDESIGN
Offers updated user experience that is more mobile-friendly
The City of Bakersfield, in an effort to keep up with internet usage habits and to
provide the most user-friendly experience to residents and visitors, launched its
redesigned website this morning.
This redesign will bring features and functions that users expect from a modern
website, including easier navigation and better usability on mobile devices –
including tablets and smartphones – and other non-traditional devices, bringing the
information residents are seeking about the City of Bakersfield and its services to their
fingertips.
The City’s web address www.bakersfieldcity.us will not change as part of this
redesign.
The redesigned website also includes a subscription option through which users who sign up can receive email alerts for subjects of their choosing, increasing
transparency and disseminating information to the public quickly.
The City will also use this new platform to develop a feature pipeline to make City
news and events easier to find and access.
The new site was developed using the Engage 6 platform by website designer
CivicPlus and represents more than just a fresh look: It demonstrates our commitment
to making all City resources accessible to everyone.
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