TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Mark Danaj, City Manager
FROM:
Raul Saenz, Interim Public Works Director
Prem Kumar, City Engineer
Michael A. Guerrero, Principal Civil Engineer
SUBJECT:Title
Authorization of Community Development Block Grant Funds for the Fiscal Year 2016-2017 (Interim Public Works Director Saenz).
a) CONDUCT PUBLIC HEARING
b) ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 16-0054
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Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council conduct a Public Hearing and adopt Resolution No.16-0054 authorizing the fiscal year 2016-2017 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds in the amount of $104,600 and previous allocations in the amount of $308,000 to fund the construction of accessible curb ramps consistent with the recently approved 2017-2021 Capital Improvement Plan.
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FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
The City of Manhattan Beach received an estimated $104,600 of CDBG funds in fiscal year 2016-2017 and has a previous amount of $308,000 of allocated CDBG funds for a total amount of $412,600 of funds. These funds have been appropriated in the previous and the current Capital Improvement Plan in order to fund the construction of accessible curb ramps.
BACKGROUND:
The City of Manhattan Beach has participated in the Los Angeles Urban County CDBG Program, implemented by the Los Angeles County Community Development Commission (LACDC) for the past 20 years. On April 15, 2014, the City Council approved the current Participating City Cooperation Agreement in the Los Angeles Urban County CDBG Program for the three year funding cycle beginning July 1, 2015 and ending June 30, 2018. The City’s annual CDBG funding allocation through this program is typically in the range of $100,000.
In accordance with the Agreement, the City and County agree to cooperate to undertake, or assist in undertaking, community development, community renewal and lower income housing assistance activities, specifically urban renewal and publicly assisted housing, including, but not limited to, the improvement or development of housing for persons of low- to moderate-incomes, and other community or urban renewal activities authorized by the Housing and Community Development Act.
Federal laws that provide CDBG funding also regulate how money is spent. These laws only allow 15% of CDBG funding to be spent on community services and programs. Overall, the majority of CDBG funds must be used for infrastructure and construction improvements that benefit low-income or other limited qualifying residents. For example, CDBG funds are used for constructing community centers in low-income areas, modifying public spaces to make them accessible to the physically challenged, street improvements for disabled residents, or rehabilitation of existing park facilities to serve low-income or disabled residents. Since the City of Manhattan Beach has no low-income census tract areas, using the funds can be very challenging.
CDBG funds can be used for the removal of architectural and material barriers to provide improved accessibility. The recently approved 2017-2021 Capital Improvement Plan identifies CDBG funds to be used for construction of concrete curb ramps as pedestrian and safety improvements. The curb ramp project was originally identified in the FY 14/15 Capital Improvement Plan. The Public Works Department has identified a plan to remove existing curb barriers to construct 55 accessible curb ramps at 30 street intersections throughout the City (see Attachment 2, CDBG Project Location Map). These locations were selected by Public Works Department staff in order to coordinate with other City capital improvement projects (water main replacements, street rehabilitation, etc.).
The Public Works Department is scheduled to return to City Council in November, 2016 to award the construction contract for this project. Construction is anticipated to start in January, 2017 and completed by April, 2017.
DISCUSSION:
In order to comply with the disbursement requirements of the CDBG program implemented by LACDC, the City must conduct a Public Hearing to provide the public an opportunity to comment on the program proposed use of funds. Approval of Resolution No. 16-0054 identifies the CDBG funding and amounts, and authorizes City staff to make minor adjustments to the program budget as necessary throughout the fiscal year. The allocated CDBG funds must be utilized by April 2017 and all applicable documents submitted to LACDC by June 2017.
POLICY ALTERNATIVES:
ALTERNATIVE #1:
Do not adopt the attached Resolution authorizing expenditure of CDBG funds.
PROS:
Federal CDBG funds may not be spent by the required June 2017 deadline.
CONS:
The current CDBG project that was approved in the Capital Improvement Plan will be delayed until a different use of the CDBG funds can be identified. Delay in the use of the funds may cause the City to miss the deadline for expenditure of portions of the funds.
PUBLIC OUTREACH/INTEREST:
Per the CDBG funding requirements, a Public Notice was posted 30 days prior to the Public Hearing informing the public of the hearing and the City’s intent to utilize the CDBG funds.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
The City has reviewed the proposed project for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and has determined that the project qualifies for a Class 1(c) categorical exemption pursuant to Section 15301, Existing Facilities of the State CEQA Guidelines. Thus, no further environmental review is necessary.
LEGAL REVIEW:
The City Attorney has reviewed the draft resolution as to form.
Attachments:
1) Resolution No. 16-0054
2) CDBG Project Location Map