Report to Mayor and City Council
Tuesday, January 17, 2023
Consent
SUBJECT:
Title
CONSIDER QUARTERLY FINANCIAL STATUS REPORT ON THE CITY OF CARSON PROJECTS BEING FUNDED BY THE AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT (ARPA).
Body
I. SUMMARY
This is a quarterly financial report to the City Council to provide a status update on how ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) is being used and provide an overview projects timeline, budget and estimated date of completion.
II. RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
RECEIVE and FILE.
Body
III. ALTERNATIVES
TAKE any other action the City Council deems appropriate.
IV. BACKGROUND
The American Rescue Plan act is a federal stimulus plan to provide funding to State and Local Governments to assist communities in recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. The City of Carson received $17.8 million and on March 15, 2022, the City Council issued specific earmarks for the use of ARPA funds (Budget Resolution 22-039). Per United States Treasury guidelines for ARPA, funds must be obligated by December 31, 2024, and fully expensed by December 31, 2026. City of Carson spent $8.9 million Year to Date, which consisted of $8.1 million in Premium Pay to City of Carson workers and $764K in Small Business Loan Forgiveness. There is $7.1 million left and the status updates for each earmark provided below:
$3.5 Million Citywide Slurry Seal Project
On September 6th, 2022, Council approved contract to be awarded to Petrochem Materials Innovation, LLC. A month later the contract was fully executed, and Purchase Order was issued. The total cost of this project is estimated at $3.1 million. According to Staff Report 2022-730 presented to Council, the project will seal approximately 35 miles of streets throughout the City of Carson in an equitable manner for each district. The rubberized slurry seal provided better protection to pavement deterioration. The seal is cost effective approach to extending life of pavement and preserving structural capacity.
$1.7 million was spent on the Citywide Rubberized Slurry Seal Project during the second quarter. The completion of the work is delayed to February 2023 due to couple of days of rainy weather during the months of December and January. Remaining ARPA funds will be recommended to be used for additional repaving work to be done in few months after project completion.
Per Council approval, $112,737 will be reallocated from Citywide Slurry Seal project to Small Business Grant Program.
$2.1 Million Tyler Munis/EnerGov Upgrade
On July 19th, 2022, Council approved awarding contract to Integrated Technology Partners to implement Tyler Munis Cloud, EnerGov, and Tyler Payment Systems. The upgrade will be a “5” version improvement from the current version 11.3 to 2021.5. The upgrade will move Tyler Munis from “on premises” to be stored in the “Cloud” which will increase Disaster Recovery capabilities. The upgrade will also enhance features which will improve Human Capital Management, Budgeting/Accounting, Procurement/Contract Management, and Financial Reporting. Tyler Munis ver. 2021.5 is projected to go live in February 2023. Currently Staff is testing processes relating to new Tyler Munis ERP in particularly the new Inventory module.
$1.0 Million Small Business Grants
On June 21st, 2022, Council approved overall plan for Small Business Grant Program. The premise of the program is to assist business still affected form Covid-19 mandated shutdown. Staff provided Council eligibility criteria, goals and objectives, and minimum and maximum amounts for the grant issued. Definition of small business is business that employees 1 to 50 employees. The grants administered range from $5,000 to $25,000. A scoring system will determine eligibility and amount of grant issued. Staff is currently discussing strategy regarding program rollout over the next couple weeks. Application release is tentatively planned for mid-November. Presumably this will allow time for applicants to gather documents required for applications. This tentative plan for launch will provide staff time to setup online application portal for the residents.
Currently the City has received approximately 50 applications and depending on approval and award amount could deplete the original $1 million dollars appropriated for the program. Staff is requesting additional $500,000 in ARPA funding that will be transferred from Slurry Seal Project, Community Engagement Initiative, and Broadband RFP to help meet demand from small businesses for the grant.
$758,000 Non-Capitalized Items
During Fiscal Year 21-22 Budget workshop, Council requested staff to provide a list of non-capitalized equipment needs for parks and programs. $53,000 have been spent so Year-to-Date. The items that made up $56,000 in items purchased are $21,000 for Carson Event Center Tables, $9,000 for fence panels, $7,000 for Community Center Carts, $6,000 for Supplies, $5,000 for Community Center Dance Floor Panels, $2,000 for Carson Center Landscaping, and $2,000 Storage racks. Staff have planned additional purchases to spend down the remaining $704,000 by year end. (See Exhibit 2)
$500,000 Broadband RFP
Per Council approval, $250,000 earmarked for the Broadband RFP will be reallocated to the Small Business Grant Program. Once the assessment is completed, Staff will know the location of greatest need thereby $250,000 in ARPA funds will be expensed in implementation. The estimated timeframe of completion is in the year 2025. Staff will issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) in January 2023 seeking a consultant to inventory the current broadband assets in the City, conduct a needs assessment, identify broadband service gaps, develop conceptual network design, a phased implementation plan, and assist with evaluating potential partners. Staff will also research potential grant opportunities to fund engineering design, construction management, and cost.
$350,000 Wi-Fi at the Park
Project supports Council vision to provide free access to the Internet (Via WIFI) for Carson residents at the City’s major parks, Community Center, and City Hall. On September 20th, 2022, Council approved contract with Datagear, Inc to provide complete installation and configuration of the network, and contractor will support and maintain infrastructure for period of 3 years. Total cost of the project is $420,272.94, which exceeded $350K in ARPA funds awarded. The remaining $70,000 was paid by the General Fund. Delays in delivery of equipment due to supply chain constraints may extend project completion from First Quarter of 2023.
$330,000 Emergency Operations Center Upgrade
Currently Staff is in process of soliciting rates for services from consulting firms to provide three conceptual planning designs. Given the estimated cost of the project which is projected to exceed the earmarked $330K the goal is to coordinate with approved consultants that Engineering has existing contracts to potentially include this project with scope of work to help expedite the process and maintain control on cost.
$183,000 Community Engagement
The City has been working with a consultant to develop a comprehensive Strategic Communications and Marking Implementation Plan for the City as a whole and also the Carson Event Center. The final plan is almost complete and will recommend guidelines for public communication strategies, staffing organization, branding, outreach, engagement, communications, best practices, and templates for both the City and the Carson Event Center. Update citywide wayfinding and monument signage as well as the City logos are being developed. The branding component of the project will incorporate elements of the current City brand and enhance the City’s ability to attract and retain local business investment while improving the City’s ability to engage the community through a consolidated Citywide communications program. The consultant has completed a series of interviews with key stakeholders, including the City Council, to gather input on the City’s existing communications and develop strategic recommendations for the City to consider. The consultant has also developed logo options for the City and is currently developing logo options for the Carson Event Center, all of which will be presented for final approval by the City Council.
Per Council approval the remaining $137,263 earmarked for Community Engagement will be reallocated to the Small Business Grant Program.
V. FISCAL IMPACT
No Fiscal Impact, all remaining ARPA Funds from FY 21-22 was carryforward to FY 22-23.
VI. EXHIBITS
1. ARPA FY 22-23 Second Quarter Report Power Point
2. Community Services ARPA Spending Plan
Prepared by: Ralston Turner, Sr. Budget Analyst