REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: AARON A. AGUIRRE, Director
Parks, After School, Recreation and Community Services Department
BY: SHELBY MACNAB, Business Manager
Parks, After School, Recreation and Community Services Department
CECELIA JIMMEYE, Senior Management Analyst
Parks, After School, Recreation and Community Services Department
SUBJECT
Title
***RESOLUTION - Authorizing the City Manager or Designee to apply for a $500,000 grant from the California Strategic Growth Council to fund community resilience center planning and execute any grant related documents on behalf of the City (Citywide) (Subject to Mayor’s Veto)
Body
RECOMMENDATIONS
Staff recommends that the City Council authorize the City Manager or designee to apply for a $500,000 planning grant from the California Strategic Growth Council to fund community resilience center planning and execute any grant related documents on behalf of the City.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Staff is requesting authorization to apply for a $500,000 planning grant from the California Strategic Growth Council to fund community resilience center planning. Funding will enable a consultant-facilitated community-led planning and feasibility study process. The resulting plan will enable the City to apply for construction funding in future rounds of the Community Resilience Center Grant Program. Authorization is also requested to allow the City Manager or designee to execute all related documents on behalf of the City.
BACKGROUND
On May 23, 2023, the California Strategic Growth Council released the Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for round one of the Community Resilience Center Grant Program. The grant program provides funding for planning, site preparation, new construction or retrofit of facilities to serve as community resilience centers that mitigate the public health impacts of extreme heat and other emergency situations exacerbated by climate change. Community Resilience Centers are intended to offer year-round programming, cooling and warming services and space that can be activated during emergency response. Similar to the Transformative Climate Communities program, the Community Resilience Center Grant Program requires a collaborative stakeholder structure and shared decision making with community members and community-based organization partners.
A total of $98.6 million is available for competitive awards across three grant types which include planning, project development and implementation. Staff is seeking $500,000 in grant funding for community resilience center planning. Planning grants are intended to help communities in the initial stages of project development by funding planning and pre-development, community engagement and coordination, site preparation, feasibility studies and other activities necessary to prepare for future rounds of funding. A total of $5 million is available for planning grants with awards ranging from $100,000 to $500,000. Final applications for planning grants are due September 18, 2023, and awards will be announced December 14, 2023.
The planning process will include needs assessments, community engagement, establishment of a collaborative stakeholder structure within the first year of grant award, partnerships with community based organizations, the identification of one or more potential locations for new or retrofit Community Resilience Center(s), concept designs and a feasibility study. Community engagement will be multilingual, culturally relevant and include best practice strategies such as door-to-door outreach to seek neighborhood level input.
To maximize grant competitiveness, all community centers located within areas prioritized for funding by the Community Resilience Center grant program will be included in the proposed planning area. Priority areas include census tracts that are identified as disadvantaged by the California Environmental Protection Agency or considered low-income as designated by the California Department of Housing and Community Development. The proposed location(s) for retrofit or new construction of community resilience facilities will be finalized based on community input collected within the first six months of the planning process.
The City Attorney’s Office has reviewed and approved all associated items as to form.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
A resolution applying for grant funding is not a “project” within the meaning of Public Resources Code Section 21803 (CEQA Guidelines Section 15378) because the administrative activities as identified in the grant application will not result in direct or indirect physical changes in the environment.
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local preference is not applicable as this resolution does not include a bid or award of a construction or services contract.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no impact to the General Fund. Future appropriations will be included as part of the annual budgeting process if grant funding is awarded. There are no match requirements.
Attachments:
Resolution
Proposed Project Area Map