Report to Mayor and City Council
Tuesday, October 05, 2021
Consent
SUBJECT:
Title
CONSIDER RESOLUTION NO. 21-125 APPROVING THE BLANKET AUTHORITY TO FILE APPLICATIONS FOR GRANT FUNDS FROM THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY REGIONAL PARK AND OPEN SPACE DISTRICT FOR MEASURE A FUNDING FOR PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS (CITY COUNCIL)
Body
I. SUMMARY
As of September 2021, the City of Carson is back in good standing with Los Angeles County Regional Park and Open Space District (RPOSD), which allows the City to now be able to submit applications for annual allocations and competitive grants. Since the City of Carson is in a high needs area, the City can apply for the Technical Assistance Program (TAP) that provides 100% reimbursable services to help with authoring and submitting competitive grant applications. The following blanket resolution (Exhibit 1) will allow the City of Carson to submit for the TAP grant (Exhibit 2) along with any future applications without having to submit separate resolutions for every application submitted to RPOSD using Measure A funding. With the assistance of the TAP grant, City staff plan on submitting the Mills Park Improvement Plan (approved by the City Council as part of the City’s CIP) for additional grant funding as site plans are ready and required in order to apply. The deadline to submit the competitive grant is Thursday, October 28th by 10:00am.
II. RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
WAIVE further reading and ADOPT Resolution No. 21-125, “A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CARSON, CALIFORNIA APPROVING THE BLANKET AUTHORITY TO FILE APPLICATIONS FOR GRANT FUNDS FROM THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY REGIONAL PARK AND OPEN SPACE DISTRICT FOR MEASURE A FUNDING FOR PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS.”
Body
III. ALTERNATIVES
TAKE any other action the City Council deems appropriate.
IV. BACKGROUND
Until recently, the City of Carson was not in good standing with RPOSD due to two outstanding projects that had missing final paperwork that needed to be turned in to close out two grant projects from 2016 that had incomplete administrative tasks and paperwork filing. The Hemingway Field Renovation grant was completed and $215,286.78 was reimbursed to the City in June 2021. The second project “At-Risk Youth Grant” paperwork was finalized in June 2021 and now the City is waiting on $338,901.27 reimbursement from RPOSD.
With all outstanding paperwork from past approved projects completed, staff was informed on August 30, 2021 that the City is now in good standing and is eligible to apply for competitive grants along with submitting applications for annual allocations.
The attached resolution (Exhibit No. 1) is a requirement of the RPOSD to provide blanket authority from the City Council to file applications with the Los Angeles RPOSD for Measure A Funds for projects or programs. It certifies that the City of understands the assurances and will comply with the assurances in the application form. It also appoints the City Manager or designee, to conduct all negotiations, and to execute and submit all documents necessary for the completion of projects or programs. That said, this resolution does not preclude staff from seeking City Council approval for all future grant applications to the RPOSD. Staff will present to the City Council for approval any proposed grant applications that may be covered under this blanket resolution prior to formal submittal to the RPOSD, as approval of the grants by RPOSD may carry certain conditions and restrictions of which Council should be apprised prior to submitting the respective applications.
As the City was not able to apply or submit applications for grant funds in recent cycles, the annual allocations have accrued over the last five years. According to RPOSD, below are the current exclusive non-competitive fund balances available for the City of Carson:
|
Funding Source |
Allocated/ Available Amount |
|
Annual Allocations via Measure A • Allocations are available to eligible agencies on an ongoing, yearly basis. • Agencies have several options for how they may use their annual allocation. One option must be selected each year. o Accrue all or portion of available funds for up to five years. o Expend all or a portion of available funds. • Agencies must inform RPOSD of their plans during the initial registration process and in subsequent annual verifications of registration information. |
$2,573,102.32 |
|
Maintenance & Servicing (M&S) Balance via Prop A • M&S funds can be used to offset increased maintenance costs resulting from RPOSD funded projects only. M&S funds shall not be used to fund existing levels of service. • Prop A M&S funds can only be used on Prop A projects |
$370,561.28 |
|
Maintenance & Servicing (M&S) Balance via Measure A • M&S funds can be used to offset increased maintenance costs resulting from RPOSD funded projects only. M&S funds shall not be used to fund existing levels of service. • Measure A M&S funds can be used for Prop A or Measure A projects. |
$349,057.28 |
Staff will work with the Public Works, Engineering Division to reconcile the accrued per capita fund balances from the County with the existing Parks Capital Improvement Program (CIP) projects to maximize and leverage funding opportunities.
The City Council approved Reso 21-054 “Approving the City of Carson’s Proposition 68 (State) application for per Capita Grant funds for Mills Park” on Tuesday, May 18, 2021. The total cost of the Mills Park project cost was estimated at $536,608. The State per capita funds from Prop 68 will only be able to cover $235,161, leaving $301,447 to be covered by Park Development Impact Fee (DIF/Quimby), or other sources.
With the approval of this item, staff will submit an application to RPOSD for the competitive “Regional Recreation Facilities, Multi-use Trails and Accessibility” grant program to cover the $301,447 shortfall. By submitting a competitive grant for Mills Park, the City has a potential of two funding sources to cover the entire cost of the project and possibly add additional amenities to the scope of improvements.
V. FISCAL IMPACT
None. TAP program is 100% reimbursable to the City for approved consulting services provided by qualified TAP vendors.
VI. EXHIBITS
1. Resolution No. 21-125 (pgs. 4-5)
2. Technical Assistance Program (TAP) Information (pgs. 6-7)
Prepared by: Timothy Grierson, Recreation Superintendent, Robert Lennox, Community Services Director