Report to Mayor and City Council
Tuesday, March 15, 2022
Consent
SUBJECT:
Title
CONSIDER AN INFORMATIONAL UPDATE REGARDING FOISIA PARK (CITY COUNCIL)
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I. SUMMARY
The City of Carson has applied for several grant opportunities to fund Foisia Park improvements. The City submitted a grant application for Prop 68 Round Three but was not selected in 2020. In 2021, City staff had extremely high hopes for Foisia Park on receiving an award, however, the City’s application was not selected by the state of California for the competitive Prop 68 grant in the 4th and final round.
Even though the Foisia Park project was not selected for a Prop 68 grant, conceptual designs and engineer’s estimates were provided as part of the application process along with additional community engagement. As such, this project is now shelf ready (less civil engineering/surveys, permits and construction drawings) and primed for future grant opportunities the City may want to pursue.
Recently, the City submitted a matching grant application to the State of California, Office of Grants and Local \Services (OGALS), Land Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) in February 2022 for Foisia Park. The City is currently waiting to see if it would be awarded a matching grant of $4.25 million.
Regardless of the grant application outcome, staff intends to include the Foisia Park improvements in the upcoming FY 2022-23 CIP plan for City Council consideration. The full project scope is currently unfunded but may be prioritized by the Council given the history of missed grant awards in this category, two years in a row. Many of the proposed improvements are sorely needed, some of which provide safety enhancements and ADA upgrades. The project application identified a $8.5M request for all proposed enhancements and amenities, however, could be scaled back or phased contingent upon fund availability, at the Council’s discretion.
II. RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
RECEIVE and FILE this report.
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III. ALTERNATIVES
TAKE another action the City Council deems appropriate and that is consistent with applicable laws.
IV. BACKGROUND
The City of Carson has applied for several grant opportunities to obtain funding to improve Foisia Park.
On July 2, 2019, Council approved Resolution No. 19-133 which authorized staff to submit an application for Round 3 Prop 68 funding. The City submitted a grant application for Foisia Park but the project was not selected.
On November 4, 2020, Council approved Resolution No. 20-160 which authorized staff to submit applications for Carriage Crest Park and Foisia Park for Round 4 Prop 68 funding. The City hired a consultant, Interwest, to help with community outreach, grant writing and submitting both applications. This was the last round for Prop 68 that had funds of $548.3 million available. Unfortunately, Round 4 was a highly competitive grant program with 468 project applications requesting a total of $2.42 billion. The City of Carson received letter in December 2021 that both applications were not selected for funding in Round 4.
On February 1, 2022, Council approved Resolution No. 22-018 which authorized staff to submit an application for Foisia Park for Land Water Conservation Funds for matching funds for developing facilities for public outdoor purposes. The City is currently waiting to see if it would be awarded a matching grant of $4.25 million.
Regardless of the grant application outcome, staff intendeds to include the Foisia Park improvements in the upcoming FY 2022-23 CIP plan for City Council consideration. The full project scope is currently unfunded but may be prioritized by the Council given the history of missed grant awards in this category, two years in a row. Many of the proposed improvements are sorely needed, some of which provide safety enhancements and ADA upgrades. The project application identified a $8.5M request for all proposed enhancements and amenities, however, could be scaled back or phased contingent upon fund availability, at the Council’s discretion.
V. FISCAL IMPACT
There is no direct fiscal impact associated with the recommended action.
VI. EXHIBITS
1. Foisia Park Map, Final Design, & Budget Estimate (pgs. 3-7)
Prepared by: Tim Grierson, Recreation Superintendent, and Michael Whittiker Jr., A/Community Services Director