Approve Memorandum of Understanding and Joint Use Agreement with the Woodland Joint Unified School District for the County's construction and use of recreation center facilities as it relates to the Knights Landing Community Park. (No general fund impact) (Perez/Sabatini)

Approve Memorandum of Understanding and Joint Use Agreement with the Woodland Joint Unified School District for the County's construction and use of recreation center facilities as it relates to the Knights Landing Community Park.

Project Background
Since 2018, County staff have been working with a 10-member "Project Development Team" ("PDT") to design a community based park in the heart of Knights Landing.  The PDT is composed of community members, community leaders, youth from within the community, and local business owners.  Through this robust, community-led process, the County developed a community park master plan and intends to develop a 7.26-acre park in Knights Landing.  The park will be located at the northeast corner of Highway 113 and Locust Avenue, adjacent to the Science and Technology Academy, on land that is owned by the Woodland Joint Unified School District (“WJUSD”). 

Desired amenities were identified through robust community outreach and public participation in the design process over a 5-year period.  These amenities include a regulation soccer field, a little league baseball field/softball field, a full-size basketball court, a multi-age play area with play structures, a public walking trail, shaded gathering areas, picnic areas, and additional parking.  The park can be constructed as a single project, or in three distinct phases.  The proposed park has received environmental clearance under the California Environmental Quality Act and was designed to be compliant with all existing floodplain regulations.

Funding Background
On March 22, 2022, the Board of Supervisors approved a $1,620,000 allocation in funding from American Rescue Plan Act (“ARPA”) funds for Phase I of the Knights Landing Community Park and staff will be seeking additional funding for Phases II and III of the park in the coming months.  The Board's investment of ARPA funds followed two (2) failed attempts by staff to obtain grant funding for the construction of this park.  Funding applications were submitted to California Department of Parks and Recreation ("State Parks") in 2019 and 2021 for the Statewide Parks Program, though they were not ultimately selected for funding. 

More recently, County staff submitted two (2) additional applications to State Parks in March 2022.  One (1) application was submitted to the Rural Recreation and Tourism Program, and the other application was submitted to the Regional Park Program.  Both applications asked for the maximum grant award of $3,000,000. It should be noted that the County cannot be awarded funding from both programs for the same project; therefore, if successful in receiving State funding through either program, the maximum award to the County would be $3,000,000.  California State Parks has identified Knights Landing as a critically underserved community using metrics such as median household income and access to public parks and open space. 

2019 Agreement
In order to be "shovel ready" in the event that funding was realized, the County and the WJUSD entered into a Memorandum of Understanding and Joint Use Agreement, Agreement No. 19-107, on May 23, 2019 ("2019 Agreement").  The 2019 Agreement has been included as Attachment A to this staff report. 

The 2019 Agreement was contingent upon the County obtaining grant funding from State Parks to develop and construct the Knights Landing Community Park by June 30, 2020.  Since the County did not obtain the necessary grant funds by this date, the joint use agreement became null and void pursuant to Section 7.b.

2022 Agreement
Staff from the County and WJUSD have drafted a new Memorandum of Understanding and Joint Use Agreement ("2022 Agreement"), which is included as Attachment B.  The 2022 Agreement is substantially the same as the 2019 Agreement, with minor changes incorporated to reflect: 1) the changed funding circumstances, 2) the phased approach to constructing the project, and 3) the updated project timeline. 

Agreement Approvals
WJUSD's Board of Trustees approved the 2022 Agreement on June 16, 2022.  Per WJUSD's published staff report (Attachment C), the "MOU is in the best interest of the school district and the community of Knights Landing and eastern Yolo County, its citizens and school children to participate in providing recreation services in Knights Landing."  County staff is requesting that the Board of Supervisors also approve the 2022 Agreement.

County staff has collaborated extensively with the WJUSD, the Office of County Counsel, Yolo County Supervisorial District 5 Office, and members of the Knights Landing community on this item.