Fourth of July Parade is On!: Small Business Administration Opens

COMMUNITY NEWS Fourth of July Parade is On!

Small Business Administration Opens Restaurant Aid Window

By Jondi Gumz

With 15,636 recovered COVID-19 cases and 242,000 vaccinations, the pandemic outlook in Santa Cruz County is improving so much that the Scotts Valley City Council has greenlighted the Fourth of July parade.

Council member Donna Lind is stepping in to chair the organizing effort for the parade, reported City Manager Tina Friend.

A slight uptick in cases means the county’s move into the less restrictive Yellow Tier will be postponed. The county, one of 41 in the Orange Tier, reports 204 deaths, only 144 active cases, and more than 31,000 negative test results.

The move to the Yellow Tier expected on April 28 did not happen.

The reason is the county’s adjusted case rate went up from 1.4 cases per day per 100,000 people to 2.1 cases per day, and it has to be below 2 to qualify.

Test positivity was .8 percent, below the 2 percent the Yellow Tier requires.

Until the numbers are reviewed next Tuesday, gyms, saunas, dance and yoga studios, wineries, breweries and bowling alleys must operate at 25 percent capacity.

Live-audience events staged outdoors are capped at 33 percent capacity.

The Brookdale Lodge has already restarted live music outdoors and the Scotts Valley Chamber has announced the Art & Wine Festival will return Aug. 22-23. The Aptos Chamber of Commerce won’t organize the 4th of July parade or the party at Aptos Village Park this year, but Cabrillo Stage plans outdoor musicals in June and July.

Overnight summer camps can begin June 1.

A new weekday program, “Camp Scotts Valley” for kids 6-18, will debut June 14 through Aug. 6 at the Scotts Valley Community Center in Skypark, operated by the Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Cruz County. Registration begins May 10 at https:// boysandgirlsclub.info.

To help food businesses struggling with shutdowns and capacity limits, $28.6 billion was allocated by Congress and approved by President Joe Biden — and the first-come, first-served window opens with the U.S. Small Business Administration taking applications online at 9 a.m. May 3.

This can provide restaurants with funding equal to their pandemic-related revenue loss up to $10 million per business but no more than $5 million per physical location. Funds must be used for allowable expenses by March 11, 2023.

Business owners should register in advance for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund at tinyurl.com/dine-vital-award/. The application window will remain open until the money is gone. (Full URL: restaurants.sba.gov/requests/ borrower/login/?next=/%3Futm_medium %3Demail%26utm_source%3Dgovdelivery)

Although new COVID cases are way down, the local economy hasn’t recovered due to regulatory restrictions — unemployment in March was 8.1 percent and more than 5,000 jobs in the hospitality sector had yet to return.

To help restaurants, the Scotts Valley City Council allowed outdoor restaurant dining through May 31 when indoor seating was prohibited.

“It’s been widely used, popular with patrons and have helped business expand their capacity,” said City Manager Tina Friend. “We consider it a big success.”

With May 31 approaching, the council is likely to discuss this month whether to extend the temporary program and make permanent, she said.

Kids In School

Aweek ago, Scotts Valley schools opened for full in-person instruction in the elementary grades — a huge change after the pandemic shuttered schools a year ago.

With 77 percent of parents wanting in-person instruction, up from 70 percent previously, the district hired one more teacher for Vine Hill Elementary to adhere to the state’s three-foot spacing requirement in classrooms. Brook Knoll School re-rostered students. Parent volunteers helped with outdoor supervision but more volunteers are needed.

“It certainly felt like a new start for all,” wrote Tanya Krause, superintendent of the Scotts Valley Unified School District, updating parents April 23.

Krause and her fellow superintendents sent an April 21 letter to parents, noting “a report published by the CDC found in-person instruction does not pose a major risk of COVID-19 to children as long as they continue to wear face coverings and maintain adequate physical distance between themselves and others.”

“COVID Update” page 8