City Extends Eviction Moratorium, Approves Loans For Silicon Valley Power
David Alexander Posted on POSTED 09:43 AM, April 8, 2020
Should renters in Santa Clara be unable to pay rent due to financial hardship caused by coronavirus, landlords will be unable to evict them until the end of May.
At its Tuesday night meeting, the Council extended the eviction moratorium until May 28. Landlords will be unable to take legal action to recover past-due rent until 120 days after the moratorium's sunset.
City Attorney Brian Doyle said the ordinance brings the City in line with orders handed down from the county and Gov. Gavin Newsom. The action allows the Council to opt to extend it past the state-wide sunset.
A plan to provide financial relief for small businesses will come before the Council Wednesday.
City Leverages Market to Save Money on Silicon Valley Power Infrastructure
Santa Clarans will likely see their utility bills continue to fall. The refinancing of bonds to construct essential infrastructure to Silicon Valley Power saw Council approval.
Chief Electric Utility Officer Manuel Pineda said, despite concerns of a looming recession, securing the loans now will likely save roughly $20 million.
"This kind of action allows us to maintain those low rates for our residents and gives us even more ability to keep those lower rates where they're at today," he said.
Three new loan agreements — for $25 million, $50 million and $75 million respectively — with Bank of America will have between 1.3 percent and 2.5% percent interest rates, according to Council documents.
"It is better to get the savings now, because we don't know what is going to happen," said Council Member Debi Davis.
Santa Clara has the lowest electric utility rates in the county.
Complete Streets Project Gets Delayed
The Council also delayed the Pruneridge Complete Streets project. The Council agreed that until motorists are driving on the road again, it should not approve the nearly-$400,000 contract with San Rafael-based Alta Planning + Design Inc.
Craig Mobeck, Director of Public Works, said the project, originally slated for completion in February 2022, is mostly funded through grant money. The team in charge of putting the plan together must first study traffic and parking demands along Pruneridge Avenue from Pomeroy Avenue to Winchester Boulevard.
The Council felt that until traffic assumes a sense of normalcy, and enough public outreach can be done, the right thing to do was delay the project.
"There are a lot of people who are interested in the final configuration of Pruneridge Avenue," said Mayor Lisa Gillmor. "We all know that Pruneridge has a tremendous amount of traffic, but it doesn't right now. It is not the time to do a traffic study."
Consent Calendar Spending
The Council also approved some keystone spending via the consent calendar:
A $4.29 million contract with G. Bortolotto & Company, Inc. for a pavement preservation project
A 5-year, $2 million contract with National Car Charging LLC for electric vehicle charging installation
A $294,975 contract with Dominguez & Sons Trucking, Inc. for the Cleanup Campaign
The Council has a special meeting today at 2 p.m.; its next regular meeting is April 28, both are in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 1500 Warburton Ave. in Santa Clara.
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