Agenda Item Wording:
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Authorize the City Manager to execute a Restricted Grant Agreement between the City of Visalia and the California Department of Transportation, as well as any future amendments, for the North Visalia Beautification Project application to be submitted to the Clean California Local Grant Program and appropriate $3.1M, contingent upon grant award. Resolution No. 2023-16 required.
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Deadline for Action: 05/31/2023 Grant Deadline.
Submitting Department: Administration - CIP Engineering
Contact Name and Phone Number:
Dolores Verduzco, Financial Analyst, Dolores.Verduzco@Visalia.City, (559) 713-4540
Diego Corvera, Civil Engineer, Diego.Corvera@Visalia.City, (559) 713-4209
Frank Senteno, City Engineer, Frank.Senteno@Visalia.City (559) 713-4331
Nick Mascia, Assistant City Manager, Nick.Mascia@Visalia.City, (559) 713-4323
Department Recommendation:
Staff recommends that the City Council authorize the following:
1. Authorize the City Manager to execute a Restricted Grant Agreement between the City of Visalia and the California Department of Transportation, as well as any future amendments, for the North Visalia Beautification Project application submitted to the Clean California Local Grant Program through Resolution No. 2023-16; and
2. Appropriate $3,100,000 in grant funds, contingent upon award.
Adoption of the resolution will expedite the grant process should the City of Visalia be successful in securing the grant. The grant application guidelines recommend passing the resolution as part of the application.
Background Discussion:
City Council approved on April 17, 2023 authorization for the City Manager to submit a grant application to the Clean California Local Grant Program, Cycle 2 Call for Projects, for the North Visalia Beautification Project.
Staff recommends adoption of the attached resolution, authorizing the City Manager to enter into an agreement with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) for this specific project in order to reduce the length of time between receiving notice of award of grant funds and execution of the grant agreement.
Although, the resolution is not required to be submitted along with the project application to the Clean CA Local Grant Program, it is recommended that local agencies obtain an approved resolution prior to receiving notice of award. Notice of award of grant funds is anticipated to be announced in September 2023 for Cycle 2 of the Clean CA Local Grant Program. Caltrans staff noted that in Cycle 1, it took an average of six months to execute a Restricted Grant agreement between an awardee and Caltrans mainly due to the amount of time it can take an awardee to obtain an approved resolution. An adopted resolution is required for execution of the grant agreement. Project funds will not become available for expenditure until the Restricted Grant Agreement has been executed.
Moreover, for projects that do receive an award of funds, there is an accelerated timeframe to complete the project. If awarded, project funds must be expended by June 30, 2026. Also, the project must be complete and open to the public by that date. According to the Clean CA Local Grant Program Guidelines, no time extensions will be granted beyond June 30, 2026. Given the project size, this is as an aggressive project schedule to meet. In consideration that time extensions will not be permitted, any delays in implementing the project may significantly impact the overall project schedule and delivery of the project by June 30, 2026.
In addition, staff recommends the appropriation of grant funds, contingent upon grant award, to allow staff to begin project eligible activities immediately following execution of the grant agreement.
By not having the resolution ready upon receiving notice of award and appropriating grant funds, this will add several months to the project schedule. Therefore, staff recommends adoption of the resolution and appropriation of grant funds, contingent upon grant award,
Proposed Project:
Staff will submit a project application to the Clean CA Local Grant Program for the North Visalia Beautification project. This project will focus on beautification improvements along Court Street and NE 3rd Avenue from State Route 63 (Dinuba Boulevard) to Houston Avenue. The proposed improvements will include the following:
• Intersection Bulb outs using community supported pavement artwork.
• Landscaped Medians or enhanced parkways to beautify the corridors and reduce the heat island affect.
• Street lighting to enhance the public space.
• Improve aesthetics to help transform NE 3rd and Court Streets as entrance gateways from Houston Avenue to State Route 63 (Dinuba Boulevard)/Oval Park; increasing livability, mobility, and visual amenities for residences and small businesses around and along these two neighborhood corridors.
• Educational and clean up events to inform the public of proper waste disposal and to keep the neighborhoods clean and welcoming.
Grant Program Criteria:
The Clean California Local Grant Program (CCLGP) announced a Call for Projects in February 2023 for Cycle 2 of the grant program. Applications are due by May 31, 2023. The deadline for submission was extended from April 28, 2023 to May 31, 2023.
The CCLGP is a competitive statewide program administered by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and is part of the nearly $1.1 billion Clean California initiative to remove litter and beautify public spaces. The grant program was established in 2021 through approval of Assembly Bill 149.
The intent of the CCLGP is to achieve the following goals:
• Reduce the amount of waste and debris within public rights-of-way, pathways, parks, transit centers, and other public spaces.
• Enhance, rehabilitate, restore, or install measures to beautify and improve public spaces and mitigate the urban heat island effect.
• Enhance public health, cultural connections, and community placemaking by improving public spaces for walking and recreation.
• Advance equity for underserved communities.
For the current round of funding available for Cycle 2, approximately $100M is available for award. Each grant awarded by the CCLGP has a maximum limit of $5M and projects must be completed by June 30, 2026. Applications are due by May 31, 2023, with Caltrans expected to announce the award of funds in September of 2023.
For projects to be considered eligible to submit to the CCLGP, project locations must meet the following conditions: on public property, under the applicant’s jurisdiction, partially or fully located in an underserved community.
The proposed project meets the grant criteria for the project site being located in an underserved community. The grant guidelines stipulate that at least 75% of the population surrounding the project site must be underserved. Utilizing the online tools provided by the grant to determine if a project site is within an underserved community, the project site was deemed to be fully in an underserved community.
Fiscal Impact:
The maximum amount of funds that may be requested per application is $5M. However, applications requesting $3M or less may be more competitive. Staff previously estimated and stated in the prior staff report presented to Council on April 17, 2023 that the estimated project cost was $3M. Staff has refined the project scope and finalized the cost estimate. The total estimated project cost has been updated. The total estimated cost for the North Visalia Beautification Project is $3.1M.
The CCLGP has a local match requirement and ranges from 0% to 50%. The local match percentage is based on the severity of disadvantage of all the census tracts with a ½ mile radius of the perimeter of the project site. The more disadvantaged the underserved community is, the lower the amount of local match contribution.
For the proposed project, the local match requirement is 0% based on the average median incomes within the surrounding community being less than $55,996 (source: Census Track Level Data from the 2017-2021 American Community Survey 5-year Estimates). No additional points will be awarded for local match contributions that exceed the minimum required match.
Following is an updated summary cost breakdown for the project. The grant application requested the total cost of the project be fully funded by the grant program.
|
Clean CA Grant - North Visalia Beautification Project |
|
Funding Source |
|
|
Clean CA Grant |
$3,100,000 |
|
Total Project Funding |
$3,100,000 |
|
North Visalia Beautification Project - Budget |
|
|
Design & Project Management |
$330,000 |
|
Construction |
$2,605,000 |
|
Inspection |
$30,000 |
|
Construction Management |
$85,000 |
|
Materials Testing |
$15,000 |
|
Non-Infrastructure Component (Educational & Clean up events) |
$35,000 |
|
Estimated North Visalia Beautification Project Cost |
$3,100,000 |
The addition of these new infrastructure elements will require future required maintenance, i.e. added landscaping, streetlights, and public art. Through further refinement of the project scope and estimate see below an updated approximate annual maintenance cost based on a 20-year project life:
|
Clean CA Grant - North Visalia Beautification Project - Annual Maintenance Cost |
|
North Visalia Beautification Project - Maintenance |
|
|
Trees and Landscaping (Approximately 140 Trees, 26,000 Sqft for shrubs & 2-water meters & electricity) |
$9,600 |
|
Pavement Maintenance Reduction (Removal of 27,000 Sqft of AC) |
($3,480) |
|
Striping, signage and Markings |
$1,000 |
|
Art Work |
$1,500 |
|
Sub Total |
$8,620 |
|
Contingency 20% - Material increase - Unforeseen |
$1,724 |
|
Estimated North Visalia Beautification Project Annual Maintenance Cost |
$10,344 |
Prior Council Action:
April 17, 2023
Authorized the City Manager to submit a grant application to the Clean California Local Grant Program.
Alternatives:
Do not adopt the resolution and/or the appropriation of funds thus, staff will need to return to Council after receiving notice of award.
Recommended Motion (and Alternative Motions if expected):
recommendation
I move to adopt Resolution 2023-16 to authorize the City Manager to execute a Restricted Grant Agreement between the City of Visalia and Caltrans, as well as any future amendments for the North Visalia Beautification Project and appropriate $3.1M, contingent upon grant award.
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Environmental Assessment Status:
To be determined during preliminary engineering phase.
CEQA Review:
To be determined during preliminary engineering phase.
Attachments:
1. Resolution 2023-16
2. Proposed Project Location Map