For City Council Meeting [October 12, 2021]
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
APPROVAL: Marcus Fuller, City Manager
FROM: Cynthia Alvarado-Crawford, Director of Community Services Department
Title
Request the City Council to Adopt Resolution No.7778 Approving the Application for $1,373,500 Outdoor Equity Grants Program Grand Funds through the California Department of Parks and Recreation Parks Office.
Body
BACKGROUND
In 2019, the Outdoor Equity Grants Program was enacted when Governor Gavin Newson signed Assembly Bill 209. The concept of the grant began with findings in the 2015 Parks Forward Commission Report stating that State Parks must expand access to parks for underserved communities and urban populations.
On July 1, 2020, the California Department of Parks and Recreation released the Notice of Funding Opportunity for the Fiscal Year 2022 Outdoor Equity Grants Program (OEP). The due date for submission is October 08, 2021.
ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION
The purpose of the OEP is to increase the ability of residents in low income urban and rural communities to participate in outdoor experiences at state parks and other public lands. The program accomplishes this by providing financial grant assistance to eligible entities including the City of Rialto.
There is $57 million available for parks and recreation to be distributed through OEP. The maximum amount per grant application is $700,000 and multiple applications can be turned in for consideration by one agency. The minimum application amount is $20,000 per application. This is a competitive grant application where the City of Rialto will compete with many other cities throughout the state of California. The Outdoor Equity Grants Program does not require a local match. Competitive applications will create new recreational opportunities in low-income communities with a low ratio of public park spaces in a half mile radius.
Community Services staff have participated in viewing a mandatory grant administration workshop presented by the Office of Grants and Local Services Mission. The Community Services Department plans to develop collaborative partnerships with other community-based organizations to provide high quality services to the residents of the City of Rialto. The Community Services Department desires to apply for the grant to secure funding to expand its Mobile Recreation Program to other parks increasing the number of days and number of hours that programs are offered to youth who may not have the ability to participate in current programs because of transportation issues or who have economic challenges
The Mobile Recreation Program is a free drop-in program designed to bring recreation to our underserved areas in the city. The grant would allow the program to expand its reactional, educational, nature experiences and social activities/curriculum into the neighborhoods of the City of Rialto for children ages 5 to 17. The acceptance of the grant if awarded and related expenditures would be subject to future City Council approval and would follow all the city’s procurement guidelines.
The Outdoor Equity Grants Program applications is a competitive process, and the applications will be evaluated by city’s needs. The California Department of Parks and Recreation will determine the need by following the selection criteria which they have identified via a 100-point scale. The Criteria selection table is below along with the criteria explained in detail
Criteria explained in detail:
1) Community Home Baser- Using the factfinder tool to list the following data (Factfinder report number, Per Capita Income, People in Poverty, Free and reduced priced meals and the percentage of students benefiting, and the number of English Learners being served in the selected area).
2) Community Planning- Community planning is an exchange of ideas and insight between the applicant, partners, and residents conducted to help define the vision and logistics for an outdoor program.
3) Outdoor Program Goals- The program needs to address education and self-discovery activities allowing participants to develop personal connections with nature; Activities for population groups with unique needs and interests; partnerships to help provide additional experiences to help serve other populations; a majority of the activities need to take place outdoors; transportation to take field trips to natural areas.
4) Service Learning, Career Pathway, Leadership Opportunities- criterion encourages and is designed to give residents, especially youth or under-employed adults opportunities that can be used for employment resumes or college admissions.
5) Partnerships and Capacity Building- partnerships can involve public agency, non-profit organizations, or company that is assisting the applicant to achieve one or more goals related to grant selection criteria.
6) Mentoring Youth Leaders after the grant- this criterion encourages, but does not require, applicants to develop a plan to mentor youth for civic engagement, leadership roles, and career pathways after the grant performance period.
The EOP grant requires the use of the fact finder tool to secure data when applying for projects. Below the table displays the data collected from the fact finder tool for the parks in the city.
FACT FINDER TOOL DATA BREAKDOWN
|
Park Name |
House Holds without a car |
Number of People in Poverty |
Per Capita Income |
Free and Reduced Lunch |
English Learners |
|
Flores Park |
25 |
697 |
$19,066 |
91.1% |
22.5% |
|
Fergusson Park |
17 |
521 |
$32,493 |
80.2% |
14.9% |
|
Bud Bender Park |
149 |
1556 |
$15,916 |
91.4% |
24% |
|
Birdsall Park |
27 |
232 |
$27,277 |
81.1% |
13.9% |
|
Andreson Park |
121 |
1079 |
$18,046 |
88.3% |
21.3% |
|
Joe Sampson Park |
90 |
937 |
$18,499 |
88.3% |
21.3% |
|
Rialto City Park |
94 |
1197 |
$16,195 |
88.3% |
21.3% |
|
Margaret Todd Park |
220 |
1632 |
$14,136 |
90.8% |
23.1% |
|
Jerry Eaves Park |
14 |
305 |
$17,805 |
89.4% |
20.6% |
|
Frisbie Park |
29 |
404 |
$22,079 |
91% |
22.7% |
The department recommends submitting applications for the following parks based on the Fact Finder reports:
1- Margaret Todd Park) Teen Center (Technology and Mentoring) $105,100
2- Bud Bender (Mobile Recreation Project application) Grant request $317,100
3- Andreson Park (Mobile Recreation Project application) Grant request $317,100
4- Rialto City Park (Mobile Recreation Project application) Grant request $317,100
5- Joe Sampson Park (Mobile Recreation Project application) Grant request $317,100
The Community Services Department held 5 community input meetings which are required for grant submission. Meetings were held at the following parks:
• Margaret Todd Park, Saturday, September 26, 10:00 am - 1:00 pm
• Flores Park, Tuesday, September 28, 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm
• Joe Sampson Park, Tuesday, September 28, 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm
• Andreson Park, Wednesday, September 29, 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm
• Bud Bender Park, Thursday, September 30, 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Information was also gathered via informational booths at the Pet-A-Palooza event and the Hispanic Heritage Festival as well as other means. During the Community Input meetings, Rialto residents had the opportunity to share their thoughts and help create the Mobile Recreation curriculum including the types of activities, educational presentations and destinations for nature-based fieldtrips that they wanted to see the program offer. In addition, the grant opportunity was presented to the Recreation and Parks Commission with staff’s recommendations for the five (5) applications to submit on behalf of the city of Rialto. The Commission’s recommendation will be presented at the October 12, 2021, council meeting due to the Commission meeting being scheduled on October 5, 2021.
Lastly, for the City of Rialto to submit a complete and competitive application, an approved resolution from Rialto City Council is required.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
This report is not a “Project” as defined by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Pursuant to Section 15378(a), a “Project” means the whole of an action, which has a potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment. According to Section 15378(b), a Project does not include: (5) Organizational or administrative activities of governments that will not result in direct or indirect physical changes in the environment.
GENERAL PLAN CONSISTENCY
Guiding Principle #4 of the City’s General Plan states:
Rialto is an Active Community. Our community will support the creation and maintenance of attractive parks, recreational facilities, and gathering places that meet the needs of our residents.
Goal 2-27 of the City’s General Plan states:
Provide a variety of park facilities that meet the diverse needs and interest of the community.
LEGAL REVIEW
The City Attorney has reviewed and supports this staff report.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Operating Budget Impact
To the extent the City’s application is successful, the City may receive grant funds in the amount of up to $1,373,500 to support expansion of the City’s mobile recreation programs.
Capital Improvement Budget Impact
This report does not impact the Capital Improvement Budget.
Licensing
This action does not trigger a requirement for a business license.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that City Council adopt the Resolution approving the application for $1,373,500 Outdoor Equity Grants Program Grand Funds through the California Department of Parks and Recreation Parks Office.