This summer, the estimated 2,100 people living in areas that are enclosed by the city of Napa â but are not part of it â will hear from city leaders about the possibility, and the benefits and costs, of having their homes absorbed into the surrounding town.
Tuesday afternoon, the City Council approved an outreach campaign to gauge residentsâ support for annexing more than a dozen âislandsâ or âdoughnut holes,â ranging from entire neighborhoods to single lots, that remain part of unincorporated Napa County despite being fully or mostly within the city boundaries.
The project may be the prelude to an absorption that could widen access to city storm drainage, sidewalk construction, and potentially lower service costs â along with the ability to vote for the mayor and City Council â to areas left behind by decades of annexations nearby.
Agreement among Napa city leaders remains elusive on the best way to temporarily boost wages for local grocery store workers as the coronavirus emergency enters a second year â and a decision may not come down until next month.
Balancing a desire to assist supermarket employees who must work through a historic pandemic against worries about jeopardizing those same workersâ access to social services, the City Council on Tuesday narrowly voted 3-2 to instruct staff to craft an ordinance requiring chain grocers to offer their workers a $5-an-hour âhazard payâ bonus for 120 days â and to define exactly which businesses would have to provide it.