Title
Approval of 2017 Neighborhood Matching Grant Allocation
City Manager Recommendation:
Committee Recommendation:
Not referred to a committee.
City Manager Recommendation
Move to approve Neighborhood Matching Grant Amounts contingent on negotiation of agreements with respective neighborhood associations to complete each project in 2017.
Report
Issue:
Whether to approve the recommended funding for eight (8) 2017 matching grants for seven (7) Recognized Neighborhood Associations.
Staff Contact:
Anna Schlecht, Neighborhood Match Grant Program Manager, Community Planning & Development (CPD), 360.753.8183
Presenter(s):
Julie Hankins, Council member and Neighborhood Match Grant Review Team Chair
Anna Schlecht, Neighborhood Match Grant Program Manager
Background and Analysis:
The Neighborhood Matching Grant (NMG) program helps Olympia residents to help themselves by providing matching funds for community projects.
When the program was established, the Olympia City Council stated that its goal is “to encourage projects that foster civic pride, enhance and beautify neighborhoods, expand citizen involvement, and promote the interests of the Olympia community. To accomplish this goal, the Olympia City Council will make available grant funds to Recognized Neighborhood Associations up to a 50/50 matching basis. The City Council firmly believes that community participation and commitment to accomplish improvements within our City are mutually beneficial to all Olympia residents.”
Program Changes: In 2016 - 2017, staff reviewed the scope of the program to ensure compliance with Parks and Public Works development standards and overall City compliance with federal Labor Standards provisions. This review found that in recent years, the NMG Program had expanded into areas beyond the original intended scope. Some of the projects were located in public parks and on other City properties and required extensive staff support and legal review to be completed and compliant with all pertinent regulations.
Staff worked with the Coalition of Neighborhood Associations to clarify the scope of the NMG program to address smaller scale projects (neighborhood mailings, signage, etc). The larger projects involving parks and public lands would be referred to the appropriate City departments for consideration as “neighborhood priority projects” to be included in work plans, along with NMG funding to assist with the completion of those projects. Please note: All projects that required additional city staff support are identified on the attached 2017 NMG Program Review Team Recommendations. Those costs are presented above.
2017 Neighborhood Match Grant Proposals For 2017, the City Council approved a budget of up to $23,000.00 to be used for the Neighborhood Matching Grant program. All Recognized Neighborhood Associations (RNAs) in good standing were invited to apply for grant funds. The deadline for submittal was March 10, 2017. The City received nine (9) applications from eight (8) different RNAs totaling approximately $17,180.94 in requested matching grants from the City.
Review of the applications was handled by a team of three (3) raters who used the six (6) criteria provided with the application to assess each application. The review team consisted of the following people:
• Council member Julie Hankins (former Coalition of Neighborhoods President);
• Olympia Parks Supervisor III Sam Baker
• Olympia Public Works Senior Transportation Program Specialist Michelle Swanson
The criteria used for review were that the application demonstrated that the project:
1. Will result in a direct and lasting environmental benefit to the neighborhood and/or wider community,*
2. Will foster community engagement and enrichment opportunities,*
3. Is ready to begin after funding has been approved,
4. Is likely to be completed by December 31, 2017,
5. Is easily accomplished with volunteers, and
6. Does not require extensive City staff involvement to be completed successfully.
* Weighted double because they speak directly to the City Council’s goals for the program as described above.
The list of projects recommended for funding is attached.
One of the proposals did not meet minimum application requirements for the following two reasons and was not recommended for funding: 1) virtually no community engagement element to the proposal; and 2) no budget detail for requested funds.
NMG Program Staff Support: The 2017 NMG program allocation was $23,000, leaving $9,319.06. Because the requested amount of grant funds is under the amount of funds approved for this year’s grant projects, City staff recommend approval of funding for the proposed eight (8) projects to be supported with $8,000 for the essential city staff support not previously budgeted via Department work plans. This includes:
$ 2,000 Parks staff support Bigelow House Historic Orchard
$1,000 Parks staff support Lion’s Park Kiosk
$2,000 Public Works support Walking Trail
$1,500 CP&D support Additional project support
$6,000 Total costs for City staff support of NMG projects
Based on the above, following is a NMG 2017 budget:
$4,000 Bigelow Neighborhood Association (RNA): Historic Orchard
$1,568.34 Eastside RNA: Lion’s Park Community Kiosk
$568.98 Eastside RNA: Community Mailer
$1,236.90 Indian Creek RNA: Communication Improvement Plan
$1,750 Northeast RNA: Info, Communication & Engagement Project
$826.72 Northwest Olympia RNA Community Awareness/Signage Project
$810.00 South Capitol RNA: Outreach and Capacity-Building
$2,920 Southwest Olympia RNA: “Walking Park” Upgrade & Neighborhood Walking Map
______________________________________________________________
$13,680.94 TOTAL PROPOSED NEIGHBORHOOD MATCH GRANTS
(Generates $17,250.96 in match to create $30,931.90 in projects)
$6,000.00 City Staff Support required for compliant projects (Parks,
Public Works, Legal Department)
$3,319.06 Funds to be returned to City General Fund_________________
$23,000 TOTAL NEIGHBORHOOD MATCH GRANT 2017 PROGRAM
Neighborhood/Community Interests (if known):
As demonstrated by the number of applications, there is strong interest among Neighborhood Associations in this program. The wider community of Olympia is strengthened by the environmental health and vitality of its neighborhoods. The proposed projects provide environmental, aesthetic, and community engagement benefits to City residents and businesses.
Options:
Note: All options would be contingent on negotiation of agreements with respective neighborhood associations to complete each project in 2017.
1. Approve the Neighborhood Matching Grants as listed in attachment.
2. Approve partial or full funding of a subset of grant requests which the Council sees as consistent with the goals of the program.
3. Choose not to approve Neighborhood Matching Grants applications.
Financial Impact:
The 2017 budget provides up to $23,000.00 to be used for the Neighborhood Matching Grant program. If all recommended matching grants are approved, the total City match would fall within the budgeted amount. The estimated staff time to support each matching grant ranges from 20 to 60 hours.
Attachments:
2017 NMB Program Review Team Recommendations