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Home My WebLink About06/06/2000, C8 - AUTHORIZATION TO APPLY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL GRANT FUNDS FROM THE LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION FUND AND THE COASTAL RESOURCES GRANT PROGRAM FOR THE PROJECT KNOWN AS THE FOSTER PROPERTY ACQUISITION. councilMft-fift Da. j acEnba Repoat "®N..b. CITY O F SAN LUIS O B I S P O. FROM: Ken Hampian,Assistant City Administrative Officer Prepared By: Neil Havlik,Natural Resources Manager SUBJECT: AUTHORIZATION TO APPLY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL GRANT FUNDS FROM THE LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION FUND AND THE COASTAL RESOURCES GRANT PROGRAM FOR THE PROJECT KNOWN AS THE FOSTER PROPERTY ACQUISITION CAO RECOMMENDATION Adopt a resolution authorizing staff to complete and submit applications for grant monies in amount of$100,000 from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and in amount of$150,000 from the State Coastal Resources Grant Program, which would be used in support of the acquisition of the Foster property in the Irish Hills at the end of Royal Way. DISCUSSION Jack and Pat Foster entered into a one-year option with the City of San Luis Obispo to allow purchase of their 154 acre property in the Irish Hills on February 1, 2000. Since that time City staff have pursued a variety of sources seeking to assemble a funding package for the project. Two such possible finding sources are the Land and Water Conservation Fund and the State Coastal Resources Grant Program. Both programs are relatively small, and for that reason staff is seeking approval to submit grants which we believe are commensurate with the community's size in regard to the scale of the applicable field of grant recipients. Land and Water Conservation Fund The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) is a Federal program, which appropriates funds for resource conservation projects through block grants to the States, which in tum award grants to cities, counties, special districts, and State agencies through a competitive program. In California this program is administered by the California Department of Parks and Recreation. Grant awards require a 50% non-State match. LWCF monies are appropriated annually by the Congressand have actually not been available to the States for several years. Staff believes that the Foster project is a good fit for the program, and matching fiords are available from City and private sources. The filing deadline for the program is June 16,2000. State Coastal Resources Grant Program This State program provides grants to coastal counties, cities, special districts, and nonprofit organizations for qualified resource or recreation projects. It is funded out of State tidelands oil revenues. To qualify a project does not have to actually be on the coast but must have reasonable nexus to coastal considerations, such as proximity. Last year the Nature Conservancy of California C8-1 Council Agenda Report-Authorization of Application for Grant Funds Page 2 applied for and received a grant from this source for the Guidetti Ranch easement. As a result, staff has concluded that the Foster property, which has many of the same attributes as the Guidetti property, would be a reasonable subject for application. Application is made through the County, which screens the applications and forwards those the Supervisors find appropriate to the Resources Agency,which conducts further screening and awards grants to the most competitive applicants. A "preapplication" describing the project has already been submitted; the deadline for formal submittal of the full application to the County is June 19, 2000. FISCAL EVIPACT The grants, if successfully applied for, will provide outside funding to support City acquisition of the property, thus providing a beneficial fiscal effect. The LWCF program requires a 50% non- State match; there is no formal match requirement for the Coastal Grants program; however, outside funds make an application more competitive. At the current time we anticipate the following funding package for the project: • City funds $300,000 • Nature Conservancy of California $300,000 • Wildlife Conservation Board $300,000 • State Coastal Resources Grant Program $150,000 • Land and Water Conservation Fund $1409400 TOTAL $1,150,000 Other outside fimding sources at the State level are being pursued, and it is possible (and perhaps likely)that the above funding scenario could change. ALTERNATIVE The Council could decide not to pursue the grant monies. This is not recommended as filing the application does not commit the City in any way; if, however, we choose not to apply we will lose the opportunity entirely. Attachments 1. Resolutions 2. Location Map 3. Grant Program Summaries C8-2 ATTACHMENT 1 RESOLUTION NO. RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO AUTHORIZING APPLICATION FOR GRANT FUNDS FROM THE LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION FUND IN SUPPORT OF ACQUISITION OF THE FOSTER PROPERTY WHEREAS,the Congress of the United States has established the Land and Water Conservation Fund,which provides funds to the States for grants to local agencies to acquire and/or develop facilities for public recreation and wildlife habitat protection purposes; and WHEREAS,the State Department of Parks and Recreation has been assigned the responsibility for the administration of a portion of the program within California, including the establishment of necessary procedures governing grant applications by local agencies under the program; and WHEREAS, said procedures require the applicant to certify by resolution the approval of the application before submission of said application to the State; and WHEREAS,the applicant will enter into an agreement with the State of California for acquisition or development of the project; NOW,THEREFORE,BE IT RESOLVED,that the City Council of the City of San Luis Obispo hereby: 1. Authorizes the filing of an application to the Land and Water Conservation Fund Grant Program in support of the Foster property acquisition project for purposes of habitat protection and enhancement; and 2. Certifies that said applicant understands the assurances and certification in the application form; and 3. Certifies that said applicant has or will have available prior to commencement of any work on the project included in this application,the required match and will have sufficient funds to operate and maintain the project; and 4. Appoints the City Administrative Officer as agent of the City to conduct all negotiations, execute and submit all documents, including,but not limited to, applications, agreements, amendments,payment requests and so on,which may be necessary for the completion of the aforementioned project. On motion of Councilmember ,seconded by Councilmember and on the following roll call vote: AYES: NOES: C8-3 ABsEivT: ATTACHMENT t Allen K. Settle, Mayon--- -- --- ATTEST:. Lee Price, City Clerk APPROVED As TO FORM: J G. J rg _s _.,"ey--- - C84 RESOLUTION NO. ATTACHMENT 1 RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO AUTHORIZING APPLICATION FOR GRANT FUNDS FROM THE STATE COASTAL RESOURCE GRANT PROGRAM IN SUPPORT OF ACQUISITION OF THE FOSTER PROPERTY WHEREAS,the legislature of the State of California has established the Coastal Resource Grant Program,which provides funds to local agencies, special districts, and nonprofit organizations to acquire and/or develop facilities in the State's coastal regions for public recreation and wildlife habitat protection purposes; and WHEREAS,the State Resources Agency has been assigned the responsibility for the administration the program, including the establishment of necessary procedures governing grant applications; and WHEREAS, said procedures require the applicant to certify by resolution the approval of the application before submission of said application to the State; and WHEREAS,the applicant will enter into an agreement with the State of California for acquisition or development of the project; NOW, THEREFORE,BE IT RESOLVED,that the City Council of the City of San Luis Obispo hereby: 1. Authorizes the filing of an application to the State Coastal Resource Grant Program in support of the Foster property acquisition project for purposes of habitat protection and enhancement; and 2. Certifies that said applicant understands the assurances and certification in the application form; and 3. Certifies that said applicant has or will have available prior to commencement of any work on the project included in this application, sufficient funds to operate and maintain the project; and 4. Appoints the City Administrative Officer as agent of the City to conduct all negotiations, execute and submit all documents, including,but not limited to, applications, agreements, amendments,payment requests and so on,which may be necessary for the completion of the aforementioned project. On motion of Conncilmember ,seconded by Councilmember , and on the following roll call vote: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: C8-5 ATTACHMENT 1 Allen K Settle,Mayor x .ATTEST: Lee Price, City Clerk APPROVED AS TO FORM: J OG'J+g ' Attorney C8t6 r ATTACHMENT 2 Athle -- - - ;:'�. goo- - `� . \ �;^` �qo � <oJ •',, '\ �' � :�•� 1C� '" r\�b\• r rte.' \� ..�� 1 /�:••:BM �6��♦ IFIeld ith . 1 "��;• „ iQ 0A sch \= ; 6 airer e ; �- i ��- _..� \\ '�\• a j�Park = Golf �� :�•4 . . 1coun Prefumo Creek Homes property \ =`r *�_ _ = `• OrrOwt:�� guna ric Foster roperty1 - �- =\. v9 �'\ oQe\ . ` = - . , -\• ��` _J`\,�\• '.t.C�. -�'�'%� _ ;iii`\= \_/ (`/ % �.•.� �� '. , in 46 .�: :tip :G �\`"--' l\� �.�- `;\` -� �`�,1r�/'•� ,: _.i -I � '.� CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO GREENBELT PROGRAM Jack and Pat Foster Property Cg-7 I"= 9600' ATTACHMENT 3 > SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING AND BUILDINr- 3 VICTOR HOLANDA, AICP DIRECTOR BRYCE TINGLE.AICP ASSISTANT DIRECTOR ELLEN CARROLL ENVIRONMENTAL COORDINATOR DATE: May 1, 2000 BARNEY MCCAY CHIEF BUILDING OFFICIAL TO: Interested PartiesPATRICK BRUN ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICE OFFICER FROM: John Euphrat, AICP, Principal Planner VIA: Bryce Tingle, AICP, Assistant Planning Director SUBJECT: Coastal Resource Grant Program 1. Introduction. We expect the year 2000 funding cycle of the Coastal Resource Grant Program will again be made available to counties and cities by the Resources Agency of California.These funds were made available by state legislation which allows excess royalties from federal offshore oil and gas leases to be allocated to coastal counties and cities impacted by the effects of offshore energy development The County of San Luis Obispo will be competing against other counties and cities which also have direct impacts from offshore oil and gas activities. If you have a suggestion for a grant submittal, it will need to clearly identify the impacts of offshore energy activities on our county and the relationship the requested grant has to those impacts. The County of San Luis Obispo Board of Supervisors will be conducting a public hearing to consider a list of projects to submit to the state. Grants have been broken into Part A and B category grants: • Part A grants shall be used for purpose of planning, assessment, mitigation, permitting, monitoring and enforcement, public services and facilities and for other activities related to offshore energy development. Up to $500,000 may be requested for each project. Part B grants may be awarded to counties and cities with approved local coastal plans for coastal resources management activities.The purpose is to help local coastal counties or cities exercise effectively their responsibility for improving the management of the State's coastal resources. Up to$100,000 may be requested for each project If. Procedures Grants will be awarded to the County by the state for one time projects and may not be used for on-going efforts beyond the grant award period. Projects that require the COUNTY GOVERNMENT CENTER • SAN LUIS OBISPO CALIFORNIA 93408 - (805)781-5600 4C"834-4636 EMAIL: ipcoping®slonet.org - FAX: (805)781-1242 • WEBSITE: http://www.sionet.org/vv/ipcoping ATTACHMENT 3 COASTAL RESOURCE GRANT PROGRAM PAGE 2 services of a consultant or private vendor are subject to the county's competitive bidding process and procedures. Also, project funds are paid on a reimbursement for services basis and no costs may be incurred until an agreement between the state and county is in place. On June 20,2000, the County Board of Supervisors will consider a list of projects for submittal to the state Resources Agency. If a project is part of the list approved by the Board, a more detailed project application will need to be developed for submittal to the State. III. Pre-Application Format (due May 30, 2000) To have a project considered by the Board of Supervisors, we need a project application that is completed in the following format 1. Project Title 2. Grant Amount Requested 3. Matching Amount Provided (10% minimum) 4. Project Summary 5. Scope of Work-Tasks to be completed 6. Line Item Budget 7. Schedule Please provide a paper and a Wordperfect disk copy of the above information to this office no later than 5:00 pm on May 30,2000. Late proposals will not be considered. If a project is approved by the Board of Supervisors, a full project application will need to be prepared for consideration by the state. IV Full Application Format (due June 19, 2000) Please provide this information in a WordPerfect Windows format Please be advised that this information may be modified by the county for final submittal to the state. This application will need to be submitted to the county in hard copy and disk format by June 19 and must include the following information in the order stated below: Table of Contents 1. Project Summary A. Brief description of project scope, location and purpose, tasks to be completed, the amount of the grant request and the amount and nature of the matching funds provided. II. Agency Eligibility A. The county will be providing this documentation. C8-9 COASTAL RESOURCE GRANT PROGRAM ATTACOM fNT 3 III. Evaluation Criteria A. Applications will berated by the state based on how well the evaluation criteria are met. Although not available at this time, we expect the criteria to be available directlyfrom the state's webpage at http:gceres.ca.gov in early May. Each criteria needs to be addressed in narrative form. Please note the different criteria for part A and part B projects. IV. Exhibits Include each exhibit as needed. Some are required, while others are not depending on the scope of the project. A. Project cost estimate (by line item) which includes the value of in-kind and volunteer services, or other donated items. An example of a line item budget is attached. This is a required exhibit B. Proposed project development budget showing sources of funding with the value of in-kind and volunteer services, or other donated items. This is a required exhibit C. A project completion schedule. This is a required exhibit D. Quarterly project development cash expenditure plan. This is a required exhibit E. Project location map. This is an optional exhibit, unless applicable. F. Project site photo. This is an optional exhibit, unless applicable. G. Project design or concept drawings. This is an optional exhibit; unless applicable. H. Acquisition schedule. This is an optional exhibit, unless applicable. I. Acquisition map. This is an optional exhibit, unless applicable. J. Legislative/congressional endorsements. if any-not required. K. Other endorsement ff any-not required. L. Other exhibits. If any-not required. Any project not submitted in the format described above will not be included in the applications sent to the State. Please submit all information to: John Euphrat Department of Planning and Building County Government Center San Luis Obispo, CA 93408 If you have any questions, please contact me at 781-5194 orjeuphrat@co-slo.ca.us ATTACHMENT 3 OVERVIEW OF THE LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION FUND PROGRAM The Land and Water Conservation Fund Program provides funds to federal agencies, and to the 50 states and 6 territories. The money allocated to the states may be used for statewide planning, and for acquiring and developing outdoor recreation areas and facilities. The program, which is administered nationally by the National Park Service (NPS), became effective in January 1965, was initially authorized for a 25-year period, and has been extended for another 25 years, to January 2015. Under the provisions of the California Outdoor Recreation Resources Plan Act of 1967, the expenditure of funds allocated to California is administered by the State Liaison Officer (SLO), who is the Director of the State Department of Parks and Recreation. Funds for the program are derived from federal recreation fees, sales of federal surplus real property, the federal motorboat fuels tax and the Outer Continental Shelf mineral receipts. n[SZRMTMQM nF Frnvn.c Not less than 40 percent of the funds available each year are retained by the federal government to be used by federal agencies in acquiring lands for outdoor recreation purposes Generally, the remaining 60 percent is allocated to the 50 states and 6 territories, on a formula basis that takes into consideration population and other factors. The costs of preparing the Statewide Comprehensive Recreation Resources Plan and the State Liaison Officer's Contingency Fund are deducted from California's annual apportionment. The balance of the annual allotment is divided, 60 percent to local agencies and 40 percent to state agencies. State agencies sharing in the funds are the Department of Parks and Recreation (55%), the Wildlife Conservation Board (35%), the Department of Boating and Waterways (5%) and the Department of Water Resources (5 The local agencies' share of the funds is divided on the basis of population between northern California (40%) and southern California (60%) (see Appendix C, Page 57). C8-10 ATTAG14ME14T ELLGIRIR dl:RN!'IF.0 Local agencies eligible to share in the fund are counties, cities, recreation and park districts and special districts with authority to acquire, develop, operate, and maintain public park and recreation areas. Eligible state agencies are designated by law, and identified on the previous page on the Distribution of Funds. Fl[GJRI F 2Rn1R!'T.0 The LWCF is limited to outdoor recreation purposes, and to indoor facilities which support outdoor recreation activities. The types of projects most often funded by local agencies are acquisition or development of neighborhood, community, and regional parks that include top priority recreation projects or acquisitions of wetlands. (Combination acquisition and development projects are not eligible.) Examples of activities for which competitive projects can be submitted and their priorities are found on page 7. Ineligible for funding are projects such as restoration or preservation of historic structures, construction of employee residences, interpretive facilities which go beyond interpreting the project site and its immediate surrounding area, development of convention facilities, commemorative exhibits, construction of facilities marginally related to outdoor recreation, indoor facilities such as community centers and gymnasiums, and facilities used primarily for spectator sports. Projects funded by state agencies include additions to state parks and recreation areas, wildlife areas, boating facilities, and wetlands projects. IMPORTd NT POLM 1, Prop ac WiirM nr developed nnder the prngram must lie retained in p�etni fnr public ntttdnnr recreation use The area to be retained is identified on the 6(f)(3) Boundary Map submitted by the applicant. 2. The state's cost of administering the LWCF Program is paid by a surcharge from each grant. One-half of the state's snrchar_gP 1R paid t+ he meant reripient, and will hP de inrted frnm the reimhursement 3. This is a reimbursement program. You are expected to finance the entire project. Fifty percent of the actual expenditures up to the support ceiling of the grant will be refunded when the project has been completed. Your original estimate of the project costs will determine the support ceiling. Allow for cost increases. CS-11 2 ATTACHMENT 3 4. A combination acquisition/development project will not be considered for funding. 5. Conformance with all rules and regulations under the LWCF program is of primary concern. Your project proposal will also be judged on its completeness, its accuracy, and above all, its ability to meet the recreational needs of your constituency. 6. The project must demonstrate evidence of compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of.1969 (NEPA), and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Verification that the requirements have been met must occur before your project proposal can be considered eligible for funding. Your proposed project site should be investigated to ensure that there is no toxic contamination that could cause a delay or clean up of the site that would slow down the construction of your grant project. 7. Actual funds for the project are committed to the project after the agreements have been completed between the National Park Service and the state; and between the state and the successful applicant. Do not start ynnr elect even after notificatinn of a snccessfiil applimtinn withnnt npprnyA frnm the state 8. If your project is selected by the state, you will be supplied with instructions on how to undertake and complete the acquisition or development. Appraisals or plans and Specifications mist he snhmitted within six months after selectinn. fnr review and. approval 13; the state 9. For development projects, plans and specifications must be approved by the state before advertising for bids. 10. You may not take title to project lands, or begin construction, until agreements have been signed and you have received notification of acquisition or development document approval. Any such action, prior to state review and approval of acquisition/development documents, is at the participant's own risk. 11. When an applicant's authorized representative signs the state/local agreement to receive LWCF funds, the applicant is agreeing to the assurances in Appendix B, page 51. SURCHe AGF The costs to the state for administering the LWCF program are recovered from participating agencies such as yours and the federal government. Your agency's original estimate of the project costs at the time of application will determine the support ceiling for federal reimbursement. A surcharge will be deducted from the federal reimbursement of project costs before the funds are passed through to your agency. CO-12 3 ATTACHMENT 3 The surcharge has often caused confusion for those who are unfamiliar with the terms of the state/local agreement. The provisions of the agreement clearly allow for a yap;ing surcharge. The first page of the agreement says that payments are subject to adjustment; and the Project Assurances section III.C.2. of the agreement explains that: "...a surcharge for administrative costs will be applied to twice the federal share of direct eligible project costs. The surcharge is to be deducted from the reimbursements received from the federal government applicable to this project, and will.be computed at the federally approved surcharge at the time the. c„hm'tted to the federal government." The check amount returned to the participant will reflect 50 percent of the eligible project costs identified in the agreement less the applicable surcharge in effect at the time of billing. CS-13 4