Receive update on American Rescue Plan Parks & Facilities Recommendations and provide board direction. (No general fund impact) (Rinde/Yarris/Will)

Receive update on American Rescue Plan Parks & Facilities Recommendations and provide board direction.

On November 23, 2021, staff provided an update to the Board regarding the five American Rescue Plan (ARP) priority category workgroups, including the Parks & Facilities workgroup. Since that meeting, staff has met with the workgroup and the board liaisons to discuss several items under the subcategories approved by the Board in November 2021. This item presents a recommendation and opportunity for the Board to determine the next steps for the $3,000,000 for projects under the Parks & Facilities priority category. Staff will return with contracts at a future Board meeting based on direction received at the March 22, 2022 meeting. The table below presents the Parks & Facilities workgroup's allocation budget.

Staff considered 7 (seven) proposals that would generally fit under this category and are recommending 6 of those proposals for either full or partial funding. Unlike the other ARP Priority Categories, the primary input into Parks & Facilities has been from internal proposals. Furthermore, staff will present two recommendations that reflect the Parks & Facilities workgroup and the Board Liaisons. These recommendations differed due to changing circumstances around the Knight's Landing Park and the County's lack of available funding for this transformational and much-needed asset in the community of Knight's Landing. At the time of the workgroup recommendation, staff had applied for a fourth time to the State for funding for that project and were hopeful that funding would arise out of the development of a competitive proposal. However, staff was notified recently that the County would not be receiving that funding. With this information in hand, the Board Liaisons were interested in using ARP funding to jumpstart the first phase of work for that project in order to leverage these one-time funds for future State funding opportunities. Both the workgroup and Board Liaison recommendations were presented to the Parks, Recreation, and Wildlife Advisory Committee (PRWAC) at their meeting on February 15, 2022. Despite a shift from the workgroup proposal to the Board Liaison proposal, the proposed staff recommendation would still provide for funding for Tuli Mem improvements, which have been denoted by both the Parks & Facilities workgroup and the PRWAC as an important area of need for the growing community of Esparto. Matrices of the workgroup and board liaisons may be found below, along with recommendations for funding. All proposals may be found in Attachment A. One proposal that is not available with this staff report is related to the Parks Marketing Program Implementation effort. Staff is currently fine-tuning the scope of work to align with the existing Parks Marketing Plan and other policy documents. However, as with all ARP contracts, any work associated with this effort will be brought to the Board for contract approval and execution.

Both recommendations would utilize the same level of funding at $2,128,767, leaving a balance of $871,233 in available funds in the Parks & Facilities Priority Category. At this time, staff would recommend the Board Liaison recommendation for several reasons, including the following:

Staff also anticipates providing a comprehensive overview of how each recommendation aligns with the Board's Guiding Principles when presenting at the Board meeting on March 22.

Should the Board choose to advance this recommendation, the following balance would be available within each of the Parks & Facilities Subcategories:

The Parks & Facilities workgroup noted their interest in utilizing any leftover funding in this Priority Category for Parks & Facilities projects and would be interested in seeing staff return with additional proposals for the remaining funding. Staff might also consider soliciting additional proposals or shifting dollars within the Priority Category subcategories, should that be in the interest of the Board.