Adopt resolution granting the Yolo County Administrator and/or designee authority to accept, on behalf of Yolo County, $641,722 from the California State Library to partially fund the construction of the Yolo Branch Library; and approve Chief Financial Officer's certification of availability of local matching funds. (No general fund impact) (Cervantes)

In the Library's Facilities Master Plan, the plan has included an expanded Yolo Library and staff have been working for several years to make this a reality. Residents of Yolo, Dunnigan and Zamora will benefit significantly from a modern library four times larger than the previous library with computers, collections, study rooms and large community room where library and community sponsored programs, activities and meetings may be held.

The County of Yolo approved the initial budget for the Yolo Branch Library on December 15, 2020. The Library at that time had an unfunded gap for which County staff were still working to obtain funding sources which was estimated at $1 million. The County awarded the construction contract to Broward Builders on July 27, 2021 and over time the construction gap grew to $1.6 million. The County pursued multiple avenues to fund the gap in early 2022 to close the funding gap including submission to the Building Forward Library Grant program in February, 2022. 

The County was notified of a grant award of $641,722 by the California State Library on September 12, 2022. The County may use the grant for any eligible expenditures incurred on or after the date. The County may not be able to use the full amount of the grant due to being well into the construction of the facility at the time of the grant award. County staff recommended that the board adopt the resolution and take other actions to allow for the acceptance of the award noting that any amounts that cannot be used on the project will need to be returned to the California State Library. The Board did approve the use of $1.6 million in American Rescue Plan funding to close any remaining gap (after use of grant funds) at its May 24, 2022 board meeting. Staff will perform a project closeout after construction and will use the most restrictive funding sources first and provide information to the Board on the total project costs and funding sources used. 

The Yolo County Library collaborated closely with the Friends of the Yolo Branch Library, Yolo Library Foundation, California State Library and numerous departments of Yolo County to obtain the grant, construct the Yolo Branch Library facility and to ensure the library can provide community spaces where all who visit may feel safe and welcome.