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9.A.

City Council Meeting - FINAL

Meeting Date:: 09/15/2015
From:: Karl Eberhard, Comm Design & Redevelopment Mgr

Information

TITLE:

Consideration and Approval of Amendments to Intergovernmental Agreements: With Coconino County, Navajo County, the City of Holbrook, and the City of Winslow regarding Arizona Route 66 Coalition Communities U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 2012 Brownfields Community-wide Assessment Grant (Approve time extension amendments to IGA's).

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Authorize the City Manager to execute amendments to Intergovernmental Agreements (IGAs) with Coconino County, Navajo County, the City of Holbrook, and the City of Winslow.

Executive Summary:

On November 6, 2012, the City Council accepted a grant in the amount of $700,000 from United States Environmental Protection Agency(USEPA) to be used for community involvement, property inventory, performing environmental assessments (approximately sixty sites), and for cleanup or redevelopment planning, addressing real or perceived contamination from petroleum products and/or hazardous substances on public or private properties along Route 66. This grant was submitted in the name of the City of Flagstaff representing a coalition that includes the cities of Flagstaff, Winslow, and Holbrook and the counties of Coconino and Navajo. To date, the grant has been very successful in building stronger relationships with our partners and in assessing potential environmental circumstances in our communities. The grant was scheduled to end October 31, 2015 but has been extended by the USEPA to October 31, 2017. These amendments to the existing intergovernmental agreements correspondingly extend the agreements to October 31, 2017.

Financial Impact:

There is minimal city cost associated with this grant. There are no matching funds required, in addition grant funds include funding to reimburse the city for any direct staff time expended, as well as for contract management of the grant. Indirect costs, overhead costs, are not eligible for reimbursement.

Connection to Council Goal and/or Regional Plan:

COUNCIL GOALS:
9) Foster relationships and maintain economic development commitment to partners

REGIONAL PLAN:
The Flagstaff Regional Plan 2030 includes a series of goals and policies that support community reinvestment as an objective and course of action to achieve the goals and policies of the Plan. Brownfield work, incentives such as grants, are a tool for redevelopment

Has There Been Previous Council Decision on This:

On November 6, 2012, the City Council accepted a grant in the amount of $700,000 from United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Options and Alternatives:

1) Authorize City Manager's Office to execute amendments - This option has the advantage of continuing this program for our use and use by our partner communities. The disadvantage is that there is minimal city cost associated with this grant.
2) Do not authorize City Manager's Office to execute amendments - This option ends city the minimal expenditures but also ends the program.

Background/History:

Attached for your reference is the Staff Summary from November 6, 2012 when the City Council accepted the grant. It contains significant general background information.

The grant progress so far can be summarized as follows:

Grant work completed or in progress (through July 2015):

Work	Coconino	Holbrook	Winslow	Flagstaff	Total
Asbestos Testing	2	3	8	4	17
Lead-based Paint		3	8	4	15
Phase I ESAs	1		7	7	15
Phase II ESAs				1	1
Brownfield Inventory	1	1		1	3

Note that Navajo County has not been included because they have yet to take advantage of the opportunity.

Estimated Grant funds usage:

Grant Work:	$266,442.89
Grant Management:	$79,107.06
City of Flagstaff Salary Reimbursement:	$5,433.41
Remaining Funds:	$349,016.64

For the City of Flagstaff, as an example, the funds have been used for four private development projects, three City land acquisitions, two city buildings, and one affordable housing project. Both Coconino County and the city or Winslow have leveraged the grant funded assessments to obtain additional grants from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) for site clean-up work.

Key Considerations:

See also the attached Staff Summary from November 6, 2012 when the City Council accepted the grant and the Staff Summary from 11-6-2012 approving the IGA's.

The City of Flagstaff will also amend the contract for grant management. Like the IGA amendments, this amendment will be a "time only" change and thus will be approved through the staff change order process and will not be presented to the City Council.

The grant management contractor, Alwin Environmental, has sold portions of their business to NV5, another similar company. Since our service contract was one of the portions sold, in addition to the change order, we will making certain changes to the purchase orders and other documents to reflect this new contractor with the staff serving us remains the same.

Community Benefits and Considerations:

See the attached Staff Summary from November 6, 2012 when the City Council accepted the grant.

Community Involvement:

See also the attached Staff Summary from November 6, 2012 when the City Council accepted the grant.

Inform
Collaborate
Empower

During the course of the grant, the coalition members have been meeting quarterly, rotating the meeting location from community to community. We also communicate regularly via email as to who is doing what and "voting" to approve the efforts of the others. We have also, as a group, hosted visits from the USEPA and ADEQ to review work completed, pending, and anticipated.

We have published newspaper advertisements, had announcements made to the Realtor's Association, made presentations to groups such as the Rotary Clubs and the Greater Arizona Mayor's Association, and we have had personal contact with many community members. ADEQ representatives and one of the consultants have been particularly helpful in reaching out to the community regarding these funds and uses.

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